Drifting
by Kuro-chan01
Summary: "Guess that means it's just you and me for now, Blue". Or where Lance wakes up billion light years away from where Voltron is after thrown through the wormhole and tries to find his way back to his friends. And a lot a shit happens. Set after season one finale. (Sorry Im bad at summaries)
1. Chapter 1

Lance knew something was wrong.

Not the kind of bad feeling you get when you forget something, like forgetting to get the milk, only to be scolded by your abuela; or the sense that something as trivial yet equally unpleasant experience would happen.

No, this was more than that.

The sense of a heavyweight in his stomach. A strong and sharp sparking, guided by the feeling of dread, worry and anticipation. Mix and merged into one feeling.

It wasn't unusual for Lance to feel this sense of dread nowadays.

Ever since he left Earth months ago, he felt it. The sense of heavy, explainable dread washing over him like water. An unease he couldn't describe. The feeling strengthened when the found Allura's castle, finding the princess and her father's, the King of Altea, adviser named Coran and discovering a fallen civilisation and a war with the Galra Empire the plagued the entire universe for the past 10,000 years.

He felt it again in their first battle against the Galra and once again when Sendak took over the entire castle. The emotion continued to follow him into every battle, every scouting mission. A simple...thing that was just there, a reminder of what could come.

Eventually, it had slowly but surely became something that he listened to. A feeling he now took comfort in.

Especially now.

The plan was simple. Hide in one of your average planets that was swarming with gas and electrical storms and scan for Allura's quintessence signature. Then form Voltron, do some dramatic fighting (like in those Mecha animes he used to watch back on earth) and quickly infiltrate the Galra ship. And, hopefully, retrieve Allura. Quick and Simple right?

How wrong they were.

As though they somehow sensed their arrival, they had an entire fleet of Galran ship waiting ahead, a wall, impenetrable, existing solely to protect the stronghold that was Zarkon's ship. His heart sank, and that feeling only grow powerful and he just knew. He knew the worst was yet to come. Even so, he could feel the lions strengthen tenfold, sparking and merging in his mind as they flew straight to the enemy ahead.  
They slashed and destroyed every ship and platoon that was in the way, determination thrumming through his and the rest of the Paladins bond. He could feel Blue presence, brimming with confidence but the sense of worry, ever present during the entire offence. They pulled through, leaving only a trail of destruction behind them; without much effort.

That was the first sign that something wasn't right, But Lance tried ignored it, trying to stop his confidence from wavering as they headed straight towards Zarkon's warship. As though some other worldly god had hear him, he freezes in his pilot seat, as he watched the sickly purple fluorescent barrier appear above them, slowly making there way around the entire base.

He stared, gazing as it closed and connected from either side, becoming one large sphere shaped wall, destroying what little hope left of escaping. There was no way in. Or in their case, no way out.

They were trapped.

And that, lead Lance to where he was now. Panting heavily as he quickly dodges the half a dozen fighters that were shooting at him.

He should have listened...

He and the rest of the paladins spreaded out and charged at the fleet of Galran ships and fighters that swarmed them, attacking them from all sides. The sound of exploded ships and blasters with the static coming from his comms, along with the sound of heavy breaths and Blues roars were all he could hear, as he dodged and attacked the cruisers that were blasting at him in every direction.

Even in the hollowness and emptiness of space, swarms of blast surrounded the entire area, shots coming from left right and centre. He continued on attacking, ignoring the bright explosion that came from the ships of his now fallen foes.

He watched as Hunk and Pidge headed straight for the battleships, clawing, slashing and blasting every single battleship around them.

As they went on the offensive, Lance decided to go on the defensive, shooting- and sometimes freezing- any ships that came towards the two paladins as they destroyed the ships that slowly surrounded them. There flew in and out, maneuvering around the debris that was scattered all over the place. He glanced quickly to his side, to see Hunk slamming a battleship, and colliding it with the two other ships beside it, successfully destroying all three ships

Suddenly something hit him- a fighter? Maybe debris? He didn't know- and he grunted at the impact, jerking forward in his seat when Blue was thrown to the side by the impact.

Just as he regained his footing, three cruisers came flying towards him, firing. Before the blast could hit, he barrel rolled to the side and rushed towards the. He blasted them with a frozen beam, effectively freezing them over.

As the trio continued on with their attack, destroying every ship and cruisers the could, he glanced around to see the two other paladins continued to attack and be attacked by several more ships. He could hear Blue's roar loudly as they sliced every fighter that came their way, their determined to defend his friends back pushing them forward.

But no matter how many ships they sliced, smashed, froze or shot, more and more came. Lance curses under his breath.

Damn, why were there still so many. Even if they destroy more and more ships, they just keep on coming!

 _"There's no end to these guys!"_

Lance couldn't help but agree. It was never ending!

Suddenly a group of fighters headed straight for hunk from behind. But before he call out to his friend, a sudden beam of light struck the fighter, instantly destroying them, nothing more than space debris.

He turns his head in awe and saw the Castle, charging forward with determined ferocity, blasting every enemy in its way.

 _"Coran attack!"_ he hears the orange haired Altean call out.

 _"Ha ha! I've waited 10,000 years for this"_ Coran shouts, giggling gleefully as the castle blasted any ships in front of him.

Lance grins. He could feels Blue amusement prick against his mind, purring at Coran's childish antics, while in the face of an impossible battle.

He heard Hunk sigh into his headset.

 _"Thanks Coran"_

 _"Well I can't leave you boys to have all the fun. I'm still young enough to fight, ya know! Did I ever tell you guys about the time I-"_

Lance ignored Coran's babbling when a fighter ship flew by him and Blue, heading straight for Pidge.

"Pidge, look out! On your left!"

Immediately, Pidge turns and finds the ship that was bulletin towards them and blasted at the cruiser, blasting it to bits.

Lance lets out a sigh of relief and hear Pidge do the same. That was close. Too close

 _"Thanks Lance"_

"No problem, Pidgeo"

 _"Lance, not the time"_ Pidge groans and Lance just laughs.

 _"What do we do now guys?"_ , Hunk's voice crackled through the comms."Our plan is really working out as- well, planned".

 _"I'm going for the black lion, you go get the princess now"_ Shiro's voice boomed through his comms, their leaders breath harsh against the headset

 _"I've identified Allura's exact location. I'm uploading the coordinates now."_ Coran notified. He watches as the sudden dot that shone brightly on Blue's panel, presumably. Lance smiles. Finally, some good news.

 _"In the meantime, I'll provide covering fire from out here. Alone...against an entire fleet. So yeah do you mind hurrying"_ , he heard the Altean squeak.

 _"My jet packs damaged. I'll need to go through the ship"_ Shiro replies, the sounds of crackling and screeching heard through his helmet.

Lance nods and dodges yet another blast from a ship before heading straight to the rest of the paladins. "Ok guys, let go and save a princess" he chimed. From his side, he glances and noticed Keith flying to the other direction that lead to the centre of Zarkon's ship.

"Keith? Uh, the princess saving is this way", Lance remarked.

 _"You guys get the princess without me"_

"What? We gotta stick together! What are you doing?!" he yells, indignantly at the dark haired boy.

 _"Whatever I can"_

"Keith!", his only response was silence before he heard the comm turn off.

 _"Mierda"_ , Lance cursed. That stupid mullet moron. Going on his own, leaving everyone behind once again. With an entire armada that's trying to kill them.

Classic Keith.

But it wasn't time for that right now, they have a lion to get back and a princess to save. He turns Blue around and followed Hunk and Pidge, flying there way to where Allura was suppose to be. They flew straight down the farthest leg ( _Lance knew they weren't legs but he didn't know what else to call them)_ of Zarkon ship to see the Allura's signature half way down the ship.

They continued following her signature till they were right in front of where the princess was supposedly was held.  
 _  
"This is it. The Princess is in this part of the ship"_

"How do we get in?" he asked. They floated in front of the metallic ship in silence, thinking. Until Pidge decides to speak up.

 _"Maybe I can try hacking one of their cargo bays"_

"We don't have the time!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Without warning, another fighter flanked his left and hit Lance growls when Blue get hit, the cockpit tremble slightly from the attack. He could here Blue yelp in pain as Lance growls.

 _"Lance!"_ he heard Pidge yell through the comms, her voice laced in worry.

"I'm fine" he grits out, jerking forward slightly in his seat.

He glanced around, trying to find the bastard that hit him but couldn't find the little brat through the several swarms of fighters that were flying around. He turned back to Blue when he heard Blue let out another whine.

"Blue? Beautiful, you okay?" he asked, concerned. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when he feels her presence warm him.

 _Fine. My Paladin_ , Blue assured.

Lance smiles before he stops to think. Hunk was right, there wasn't any time to hack the cargo bay. Time they didn't have. Then he heard suggest that he could Yellow to slam into the wall of the the ship but Lance shook his head.

He knew those ships were ventilated with air and a small tear in itself would cause a violent outrush of air, creating a strong vacuum which could lead them to pulling Allura through it. And with the impact from their strongest lion would be catastrophic. No, that wasn't a good idea.

Suddenly a thought came to mind. What if he used Blue's ice to weaken the walls and to decrease the effects of the vacuum.

Well, it was a plan at least.

"Guys, I have an idea. Cover me!"

He made his way exactly where he would be right in front of where Allura's cell should be and blasted a heavy layer of ice onto the ship before shooting at the wall. He slammed Blues head straight for it, which, thankfully, worked and they slammed into the inside of the ship, plugging in the suction and vacuum.

He grinned at Hunks cheer and couldn't help the slight snicker that escaped him when he heard Pidge yell at Hunk. " _Celebrate when weren't being shot at stop celebrating "_ she yelled, just as Lance got out his bayard and headed straight to Blue's mouth. Blue sent him an image from her of a half a dozen soldiers that stood, tense, around him and Blue, guns armed and pointed, ready for them. Probably, there guarding the princess' cell.

 _My Paladin. Be Careful_ , she begged.

Lance smiled before replying. "I will, Blue. You're talking to the best- and most handsome- fighter pilot in the Garrison. Skill is my middle name" he boasted, dramatically. His smile grew bigger when he felt her amusement roll through him like waves.

Once he reached the entrance of Blue's mouth, he quickly activated his bayard and held his rifle tightly in his hands. He took a deep breath before he he readied himself for Blue open her mouth.

As soon as she opened her metallic jaw, Lance immediately shoot the Galran androids that had surround around Blue's head. As few shots flew past, Lance quickly went to cover, hiding behind one of Blue's metallic fangs. He kept shooting under the protection of Blue's jaw, and was finally able to hit the final two soldiers, who now lay on the ground like a rag doll.

As soon as they were all down, he jumped out of Blue's mouth and looked around for any more enemies. Seeing no more soldiers coming his way, his slightly relaxed his shoulder and headed straight for, what he guessed was, Allura's prison cell.

He went straight to the doors control panel. Using one of the unconscious Galra drones that was lying on floor, he pressed the scanner that, he hoped, would open the door. He couldn't help the sigh that escaped him when the door opened from the ground up and disappearing.

He carefully steps into the dark, dingy cell and looks around hoping to see . Seeing a curled up, yet so familiar, figure in the farthest corner, he couldn't help let out a tiny cry of joy that came from him.

"Allura!" he called out. God, he was happy to see her again.

"Lance!" she yells, surprised to him here of all places. He quickly placed a hand on her shoulder and looks her over, glad to see no obvious injuries. He quickly stands up and stretches out a hand for her, which she gladly takes.

"Don't worry, princess. We're gonna get you out of here"

Allura shook her head, and turned back to him with a face of worry. "What you doing here?! Tell me you didn't bring Voltron straight to Zarkon's central command"

Lance shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Em well- the thing is-"

She suddenly gasped, interrupting Lance from his rambling.

"Where's the Black Lion?", her voice trembled, worry etched in her tone.

Without warning, she went silent, her concentration solely on her communicator that rested on her ear like an earring. He watches in concern as her face slowly pales, her eyes widened in fear and worry.

"We have to save Shiro! "

Before Lance could even comprehend her words, she stood up and swiftly bolted out of the room.

"Eh, Allura!" he called out, running after the princess as she ran down the hallway. Well...shit, Lance thought to himself. He raced after her, hoping that he could get her before they ran into any of the soldiers he knew were lurking around.

While he was running he could hear static in his helmet before he could hear Hunks voice booming through the other side.

"Lance, did you get her?"

Hunk asked, his voice barely heard by the sound of fighting surround him.

"Yeah, but there's a change in plans. Looks like Shiro's in trouble" He said. He didn't wait for a response and raced after the princess.

He rushed through the halls, his bayard in hand, careful to not draw any attention from any guards that could be around. He was slowly rushed forward as the princess veered left, her steps filling with more and more determination as she charged on.

But just as they turned a corner, Lance stiffens, finding them face to face with a group of sentries patrolling their way. Allura freezes.

Just before one of the sentries could notice her, Lance pulled her in, both taking cover behind one of the walls. She yelps in surprise when he grabbed her, the noise alerting one of the Galran sentry. When the sentry mechanically walked to where the sound came from, Lance pulls her behind him.

"Hide behind me" he hissed.

She stares for a moment before doing as he said, nodding before quietly hiding behind him. They stayed there in silence, their shoulders tense and breaths quietened, as they heard the clanking of footsteps come closer and closer. Lance watched in silence, his bayard in hand, ready, his gaze solely on the sentry that came into their view. The sentry looked around for a moment, searching for the cause of the sound he heard earlier till it turned around and went back to their position. Lance let out a small relief. That was close.

"What are you doing?" she shrieked, indignantly.

"Allura-"

"Lance we don't have time for this! We must save Shiro. He needs our help!"

He knew the princess was a very stubborn and determined person from the moment she came out of that cryopod. The look of fiery determination and willpower burning in her eyes. But he also knew she could get blinded by that fire and can lead her to be reckless and even more stubborn than usual. Good thing his sister was the same, so he knows what to do when his sister got like this.

 _Stubborn Princess_ , he heard Blue rumble. He couldn't help but internally laugh at that. Lance turned back to Allura.

"Look, I wanna help Shiro as much as you do. But we wouldn't doing ourselves any favours if we just charge in and alert every single soldier here" he says, his voice stern but gentle; or at least he hoped it was.

They both looked at each other in silence before Allura's shoulder slumped. She closed her eyes, before releasing a small sigh from her lips.

"You're right" she began. "Storming around recklessly won't help us save Shiro."

She bowed her head, her eyes trained to the floor. "I apologise."

He smiled slightly. "It's fine. No need to get sentimental on me." He gently rested his against her shoulder. "Let me take the lead okay. We don't wanna get that pretty face hurt now do we?"

Allura roll her eyes before turning back to him, surprised by the seriousness hidden behind the light and flirty expression. She stared at him for a moment before she nodded firmly.

They nodded to each other. Carefully, they made their way down the hall of the ships, sneaking up to any sentries that were guarding one of the rooms, closest to them and quickly destroying them. They continued making their way down the hallway, till they heard the sound of fighting and a very familiar cry of pain from the end of the hallway that lead straight to the hangar.

Not surprisingly, the hangar was barren, no ships inside the room. The only thing in the room were to figures, standing straight in the middle of the room. A swarm of cloaked white haired druids. Even though Lance hasn't never meet the druid personally, he knew who was before them. The druid responsible for Shiro's arm, the woman known to be the leader of the druids and Zarkons right hand woman.

Haggar..

The entire group of Haggars were surrounding something. At first Lance couldn't recognize what was in the center of the multiple Haggars, until he noticed a very familiar figure and certain black paladin armor. Shiro was in the center of the swarm, crouched and on his knees. From far away, he could still tell that the paladin was breathing and seemed to be in a lot of pain.

"Shiro!" Alura yelled. They watched in terror as the group of Haggars got closer and closer to their leader, their hands holding a violet coloured orb that swam in their palms.

"Now Champion your time is over" he heard Haggar, her voice scratchy and dripping venomous. Your typical evil villain, he mused, before mentally shaked his head. It wasn't time for this. Shiro needed their looked through the swarm of Haggar's that surrounded Shiro, scanning for some kind of difference between all of them. Some kind of clue.

"Dammit, which one's the real one" he hissed.

But unlike him, the princess seemed to trained her eyes on a specific illusion, her eyes intense with heavy concentration, before frantically pointing at the illusion on the right, the one that was slowly making their way to their black paladin.

"Lance, there. Fire!"

Lance immediately acted. He took a quick deep breath, carefully aiming at the Haggar -or the Haggar that Allura thinks is the real Haggar but honestly they all look the same to him- before pulling the trigger. Just before bullet could hit, Haggar turns and evaporates into a burst of dark cloud, reappearing on the other side of the hanger, her illusions gone -washing away into the air.

So she can teleport, he thought.

 _Great_

Haggar snarls, her glowing orbs gazing at him and Allura in rage. She didn't noticed Shiro stand up and slash his glowing Galran arm towards her. Quickly, she puts a shield up, protecting her from the attack. Lance watched as Shiro falls to the ground, his legs buckling against the weight. Immediately, Lance took action.

He shot again, and snarled when he only hit thin air as she teleported away again. Her sardonic laughter filling the room as she disappears.

Once they were sure they wouldn't see the druid again, Allura rushed over to Shiro. "We've gotta get out of here". She gently picks up Shiro, trying her best to not worsen his injuries. Shiro grunts as she slowly and carefully rose to her feet. "Shiro" he said, his voice dripping with concern. Shiro scrunches up his nose as he lets a hiss of pain.

"I'm alright" he panted out.

Lance and Allura exchanged a look.

"Well this could be worse" he muttered. Suddenly, an alarm blared through the entire hanger, red lights flickering around the room.

"...I take that back. _Now_ it's worse"

"Let's get out of here." He yells before bursting down the hallway, Allura and Shiro in front of him. It wasn't long before an entire patrol of Galran sentries and a few soldiers came from behind, blasting straight at them as they continued to make their way back to him. he hear the roars of orders from soldiers and guns firing.

"Capture them!"

"Do _not_ let them escape!"

"Right!" Allura yelled, and they quickly turned the corner. As she and Shiro continued on, Lance fired at the sentries, protecting them from the onslaught of shots that flew by them. He was able to take out three of them before they the cut the corner.

Blasts of laser-fire continued to pass by them as they ran and ran, getting slowly closer and closer to Blue.

They turned another corner. Lance noted Shiro's breathes getting heavier and shallower, his frosted tips stuck on his sweaty forehead. His eyebrows furrowed together at the intense pain Lance knows he's feeling. He took his eyes of Shiro, taking a brief glance at the hallway. He recognised the hallway.

It was the hallway where he found Allura. Which means there almost back to Blue. Almost there, he thought. He could her Blue encouraging hums graze against his mind.

Without warning, they were caught of guard by a group a soldiers that cut in front of them, raising their blaster and aimed at them. No, not them. But at _Allura_.

"Fire!" a soldier yelled.

"ALLURA!"

But he could even think, his body moved. Before they could pull the trigger Lance ran to Allura and Shiro shielding them from the swarm of shots that passed. Suddenly he felt an intense, flaming pain coming from his left leg. He screams in pain.

"Lance!" he hear his name called out. He couldn't tell who called it. Was it Allura?

Was it Shiro?

Maybe it was Blue. He didn't know.

His focus was on the sharp burning pain that was coming from left leg. He could the burning of the bullet the injured muscle in his leg, pulsing against the flow of blow leaking from the wound.

The pain wasn't unbearable, nothing compared to that time he saved Coran when that bomb exploded. But it still hurts. A _lot._

Quiznak, he cursed. He rose his gaze from his injured to Allura and Shiro. Allura was in front of him, her hands gracing over his upper arm and shoulder. The first thing he noticed was the worry etched into the hue of her eyes. She was calling his name but he was distracted by the figure behind her slumped but slashing the soldier that got close enough. It only took him a second to realise it was Shiro. His leader was panting heavily, worn out and in pain, his hand still resting against his injury, his grip tight.

He looked back at the princess, scanning her entire body for any bullet size wounds. He lets out a sigh of relief. Thank God, the princess didn't get hit.

"I'm okay. I'm okay" he grits out. He ignored the pain in his leg as he stood up. He will deal the wound later. For now, escaping was more important. He carefully stands and ignore his muscles as the scream in pain or the sensation of his blood oozing out of his leg.

He stumbles a bit but slowly regains his balance. He breathes through the pain as he grabs his bayard that laid on the ground, picking it up before activating it. He ignores Allura for a moment as he he aims his blaster at the sentries that were attacking Shiro, before shooting them down with ease.

Shiro turns to him in surprise before his legs give out and kneels on the ground, wincing in pain. Allura immediately go to him, shouldering him. Once she secures Shiro, she turns to Lance in concern.

Lance gives her a strained small that looked more like a wince if anything. His smile fell when he hears shouts and the clattering sounds of footsteps coming from behind them.

" _There!"_

Lance turns his head, his eyes trained on the Galra soldier and group of sentries that stood there. The same group that was following them moments ago, he realised. They must've lost them for a second.

But not anymore.

"Guys, now's a good time to run!" he yells before he and Allura ran to Blue. They ran and ran until Lance could see the broken sentry on the floor ahead and Blue's very familiar head, sticking through the walls of the hallway.

His knee buckle and stumbles for a moment before he regains his balance and runs straight to Blue. "Blue!" he yells. Immediately the lion opens her mouth. Lance waited for Shiro and Allura to step into her metallic mouth before he hops in himself.

Quickly, he made his way to Blue's cockpit and didn't pay attention as her doors opened to him, welcomingly. He steps into the cockpit, his hobbling straight to his seat.

Lance slide in Blue's seat before grasping the controls and pulls them towards him. Blue pulls her head back and quickly flies back for distance, causing Allura and Shiro yelp at the force of it.

"What now Shiro" he asks, his eye directed solely on the battlefield before him. He continues dodging oncoming fighters, barrel rolling and diving away from any oncoming fire.

"We need to get back the Black. Lance, can you see if the Blue lion's scanner can pick up Blacks location" Shiro asked. Lance turned to Blue's control panel and looked at the scanner on panels far right. He was glad to see a familiar purple dot pulsing on the screen.

Shiro leans closer to the screens, a look of relief when he see's a very familiar back dot pulse on the screen. "That's not to far from our location" he hears his leader silently mutter. "Okay Lance. Lead the way"

Suddenly static sparked through the comms. Lance was surprised to hear Coran's voice drum through his and Shiro's helmet. " _Shiro. Keith went to fight Zarkon! I can't connect to his comm"_

Shiro tenses before he pressed his hand against the comm on his helmet. "Keith, do you copy?" he said, but was only responded by quiet static. "Keith? Do you copy?" he repeats.

Silence

Lance looks over his seat for a second, watching Shiro in worry. He could see the fear and worry plastered on his face. "Keith!" he yells.

Silence

Allura rests a comforting hand on Shiro. The fear quickly disappears and the strength and fiery determination Lance knows, takes its place. "Alright team. Getting Allura and the Black Lion back is our first priority. Black location isn't far from Keith's so I'll go and get Keith." Shiro turns his attention to his comm's.

"Pidge, Hunk, I want you two to continue fighting but stay on the defensive till me and Keith are away from the ship. Lance, get the princess back to the castle and Princess, be ready to open up a wormhole."

Lance nods and hears Hunk and Pidge reply in agreement. "Yes sir." He turns Blue around and headed straight towards Blacks location. He stepped on Blue's boosters and they burst ahead, speeding straight through the ships and debris that passed them. Lance could feels Blue determination to help her pack trum through their connection as the flew their way to Black and Red.

 _Don't worry Blue, we'll get them back,_ he assured, or at least hope he did, through their bond. Lance wasn't sure if Blue got his message. He knew that he and Blue are the bestest buds and are good, great even, but he knew that their connection was still at their new stage. Just as he was about to try to try again he feels Blue growl in determination, grateful paladins assurance.

As they made their way closer to the Black Lion, He could their bond brimming with strength and determination. They flew and glided past the ongoing battle around them and Lance glanced at the screen, watching as they were getting closer and closer to Black. Once the reached the area, Lance pulls the control, stopping Blue, leaving them hovering in space.

This was it.

He looked around the place, his anxiety slowly building up when he couldn't see the Black Lion anywhere. Then suddenly Allura perked up.

"There!" she points at the surface of a part of the battleship where the black lion lay, its body dangled and stiff like puppet.

"Lance" Shiro calls, trailing off, but he didn't have to say anything more. Lance brings them down and floated just beside the lion. He glances behind him and watched as Shiro left, his strides strong and powerful. Even as he clutched his injured side, he looked strong, like a soldier. He guessed he just forgot that he technically _was._ They all were.

He meets Alluras as she watched their leader walk to Blues hanger, before quickly turning back to the front. He pressed his finger on the hanger button, listening silently as he discreetly hears the doors of the hangar carefully open underneath him.

Him and Allura watched as Shiro out of Blue, jumping straight down near the Black lion. Just as he reaches the surface he tumbles, bending his knees and roll into a crouch. Shiro stands up before turn back to them.

"Go!" Shiro waves them off. Lance immediately takes action, and pulls his controls, swerving Blue before flying off. He dodged any fighter that came their way and shoot or slashed any that came too close to dodge. He could hear Allura grunts of discomfort as she held her hand on the top of his seat, grip tight as she tries to keep herself balanced. As they finally reached closer to the Castle, Lance pressed his comm.

"Coran, I'm bringing the princess to you. Can you open the hanger?"

"Already on it, my boy" Coran said. Their a second of silence before Coran continues. " _Is she well? She isn't hurt, is she?"_ he asked, his voice filled with worried and skittish.

"I'm fine Coran" Allura assured as she stood beside Lance, her usually stern demeanor gone and replaced by a soft gentle expression.

"Thank Alfor" He heard Coran whisper, relief etched in his words. He speaks up again, his voice stern and strong. "Don't even think doing something so reckless again, you hear me? You scared me to death young lady"

Lance glances at Allura and watched as she dropped her head in shame. "I'm sorry Coran" she whispers. He could the moment he loses the tension and relaxes once again when Coran replies with a soft, " _It's alright my dear. I'm just glad we got you back"_. She looks up at the screen, a soft smile on lips.

As they got closer and he tells Allura to get to the opening of Blue's mouth. She nods before leaving the cockpit, the sound of the door opening and closing behind him.

When they reached the Castle, he gazed at the particle barrier that quickly dissolved around the Castle before it reformed as they flew straight to where the hanger would be on the back of the Castle. The white and glowing blue exterior of the hanger blurred past them in a flurry of colour.

Once he was sure he was close enough inside of the hangar, he clenched Blue's control into his chest, stopping Blue, setting her down on the floor of the hangar.

He dropped open Blues mouth as Allura safely hopped out of the Lion. She turned to him and Blue as she nodded toward him.

"Keep them safe Lance" she says, before she turns away and runs off, straight to the control room of the ship. He playfully salutes to her before going straight back to Hunk and Pidge.

Blue raised her head before they both flew straight out the hangar, accelerating more and more as they tried to make back to their team. He looked at familiar Green and Yellow dots glowing dimly on the screen beside him. They were close. Lance noticed that they seemed to be at the center of the battle, a cluster of red dots surrounding them.

That doesn't look good. He speed up, rushing past the flurry of debris and ships scraps. Once he reached the center of the battle, he could see the Green and Yellow Lion's back and back, surrounded around a fleet of fighter that circled around them. But even with the swarm of fighter attacking them, the Lion's still stood strong.

He burst through the Fighter blasting them in one shoot, each exploding the other fighter around, like a row of dominoes, one setting of the other. He shot down the ships, and watched as the ship explodes into pieces. He turns Blue towards the Green Lion.

" _Took you long enough"_

" _Aw,_ Miss me?" he teases.

 _"As if "_ , Pidge scoffed, playfully.

He heard Hunk let out a sigh-full chuckle. "So guys, ready to kick some more Galra butt?". Pidge huff's lightly into her comm. " _Born ready."_

They dispersed, flying straight towards the clatter of armadas that circled them. They slashed and clawed every ship in sight. Lance dodges the blast and lasers that flew past him. He dodged every attack and attack them once they were out of sight, freezing them with Blue's Ice blast. Lance panted. His blood continuing to trickle down his thigh, he could feel every pulse as the blood flowed out of his body and onto his armor and undersuit.

" _Lance, buddy, you okay?"_

He lets out a small playful chuckle, trying his best to hide the pain he was feeling in his voice.

"Yeah buddy. I'm good" he looks around, gazing at the destroyed ships in front of him. "Can't say much about those ships though" he adds. He wipes off a layer of sweat that formed on the side of his temples.

He caught a glimpse of the Black and Red lion rising to the air and let out a relieved sigh. Through the comms, Shiro voice stood out, strong and firm. " _I got ya buddy! Alright guys let's get out of here"_

" _Finally!"_

His mouth curls up at the sound of Hunk's whooping as they flew straight to the Castle. Lance grip loosens on the control, his adrenaline slowly subsiding. He felt worn out and tired. But still, he couldn't to agree with Hunk, his heart bubbling in relief and excitement.

" _Alright Paladins. Time to get out of here"_ Allura's voice rung out. Lance watched from the cockpit as the Castle charged out, glowing in brilliant blue and silver quintessence. No matter how many times he saw it he couldn't help but look in awe.

Then it happened.

He felt it again.

That _feeling._

Lance freezes. No. It can't happen. Not now. They just got Allura back. They did their mission and were just about to leave, partially unscaved. Nothing can happen now. It can't.

And really? Again? The Universe is just not with them today.

He watched in horror when the bright light surrounding the castle, evaporated and disappeared. "Allura?" he whispered, too quiet for people to hear. " _Hello? What's going on here. I don't see a wormhole"_ Hunk voice rang through his headset

" _The Galra barrier is jamming our ability to create one!"_

Fleets of ships flew towards the group of lions, and Lance looked at the paladins in worry. He could they were all tired and worn out beyond belief. They've never fought a battle for this long or as big and huge as this one. And what's worse Shiro is injured and the Red lion is unresponsive, leaving three, technically two if you don't count Shiro, that were functioning. Still, Lance readied himself and got Blue into position.

Well…

 _Shit_

Suddenly, the barrier flickered. It flickered and flickered before it went down, dispersing into the void of space.

 _How did-_

His thoughts were interrupted by the team cheers, his lip twitching at the sound of Pidge's whooping loudly through the comms. " _What happened? Coran?"_

" _Does it matter? Wormhole!"_

" _Allura?"_ Shiro asked. They heard only silence before they saw the Castle light up once again, charging up before forming a wormhole ahead of them.

Hunk cheered in joy. " _Oh thank Altea. I don't know about you guys but I don't wanna stay here any longer. Can we leave now. Please?"_

That wasn't just pure luck right? The barrier couldn't had just _shut down_. He knew better. He can't shake off the feeling that someone was helping them. But who? And more importantly, Why?

Deep in thought, Lance only heard a slight crackle, before he could realize what was going on. And in a blink of an eye, a large bolt of violet electricity flashed past them, that came from Zarkons ship.

He watched in horror as it struck directly at the wormhole. Like static is sparked and crackled randomly at the gate of the wormhole before the beautiful aquatic blue of the wormhole exterior swirled and deepened into a sickening violet. Even though the wormhole looked completely harmless, Lance knew differently.

"What was _that_?!" He shrieked.

" _Let's go"_ Shiro's voice boomed through his comms. Doe's Shiro not see the- Oh he don't know, _purple evil looking wormhole in front of them_?!

Lance took a moment before shaking his head, ignoring the feeling deeply rooted in his stomach. He flew straight ahead, trailing behind the rest of his team. He didn't know why he was hesitant beside hearing a voice inside his mind, screaming to him to not go in. He ignored the voice and followed his team into the swirling violet black hole.

The usual serene feeling of warmth and energy that Lance would feel as he merged through the entrance of the wormhole change to a dark and overwhelming tanje of just _wrong_ , tingling and prickling through his entire body, from his toes to the unease in his gut.

Once Lance got inside, he knew something was wrong. He looked around at the wormhole and his eyes widen at the sight. It didn't feel right.

The walls of the wormhole flickered like sparks, a wave of darkness swirling inside it's energy walls. The structure that was once light and strong was now a fragile wave that slithered like worms on the surface of the walls. And what was once a calming and light pull of force became an intense and unwelcoming force, so powerful, that pulled and pushed, tangled in its own pressure. Lance pales.

This wasn't good..

 _"Coran, what's happening?!"_ Shiro shouted, his voice clipping and distorted through his comm. He grunts at the force of the pull of the gravitational pull of the wormhole. Something was wrong.

 _"The integrity of the wormhole is being compromised. It's breaking down"_

"What does that mean?" he shrieks, his voice shaking as Blue blue's core rattles in worry.

 _"It means that we have no control over where we're heading"_

This was bad.

Lance stomach drops, the intense, searing pain coming from his wounded leg numbed; overpowered by the wave of anxiety and fear that he was feeling. Blue purred softly in his mind, trying to ease her paladins fear. But Lance knew she was just as unnerved and worried as he was.

He heard Pidge scream as Green and Black spirals out of the Castle's open hanger, disappearing past the layers of the corrupted wormhole.

"Pidge!"

" _Shiro!"_

" _Coran!"_ Allura screams. " _The controls have malfunctioned. There not responding!"_ Coran shouts, his voice shaking and panicked.

Next was Keith and Hunk. They screamed as their were violently pulled out, thrown through the wormhole just like Pidge and Shiro, their lions Lion nowhere in sight. "Hunk!" he screamed.

"Keith!"

He was alone...

" _ **Anyone**_ _!"_

He was the only one left. Lance panics. He doesn't know what happened to the friends. What happened to them?

What was going to happen to him?

Suddenly, Lance was jerked violently to the side. He grunted. He felt his entire pull into the swirling purple abyss. Blue shuddered at the force of the wormhole, her light flickering out and the purring of her engine sputtering and clanking as she was pulled of the Castle.

Lance freezes in fear. Blue rattled as they closer and closer to the flowing stream of the wormhole. His breaths shorten and looked around the cockpit, for anything to stop the impending . He _can't_ go. He _can't_. He's still needs fight the Empire. He still need to save Earth.

He still needs to see his family again.

But he couldn't do anything as they grazes against the wormhole. He clenches his eyes shut as the force of the pull hits him. His felt heavy and grounded but pulled in every direction. It was too much. Lance could feel his consciousness dimming.

His vision narrowed and darkened by every second as they merged with the streamed of the wormhole. All he could do was apologise to his family. For not getting back to them. His conscious, then, strayed away to the deeps of his mind.

And the last thing he registered was Blue's deafening roar before they fell into darkness.

* * *

 **Annnnnd there you go. Hope it was good. Please tell me what you thought of it.**

 **Until next time i guessXD**


	2. Chapter 2

Darkness

That all Lance knew.

A cold pitch of darkness enveloped him, wrapping around him in warmth, _comforting_. How can something be warm and cold? Lance didn't know. All he knew was that he was here and nothing else.

He felt numb. Like he was floating. Was he floating? He had no clue. All he could feel was the weirdly somehow warm and cold darkness that surrounded him. He could hear nothing, see nothing and feel nothing. No hot and searing pain pulsing through his body. No exhaustion. No fear or joy.

Nothing..

He felt the dark nothingness twirl around him. It wrapped around him and was engulfing him into a larger abyss. He didn't like it.

It wasn't right. He doesn't know what isn't right but he just know something isn't. He wasn't suppose to be here. He was suppose to be somewhere else. Where, he doesn't know either. But he doesn't care. He has to go there. He needs to be there.

" _No"_

Then came a light. A small peck of light shone dimly in the vast abyss, shining a pure and blinding glow. The light then grow bigger and bigger, filling the dark surrounding with pure light.

So blinding.

It was so bright. Too bright. He careful reaches out to it. It was so bright yet so _familiar_

Then he felt the pull of the Light enveloped and engulf him. He opens his eyes and stared in awe. All he could see was a beautiful veil of colour swarm. It danced around him in a soft trepid beat, almost like fluid, and as gentle as it flowed softly around him. Not the blinding the white light from before but one that was beautiful and aquatic in nature. The colour that reminds him of home, of his family. The colour that represent him and him alone.

Then it hit him, his mind sparkling in that colour, dancing in its shade like the waves of the ocean. It was so...

 _Blue_

Then suddenly he was pulled from the swarm of blue that surrounded him and was pushed into a blinding white light, the blinding white became lighter and lighter and expanded around him. Then he opened his eyes.

He was somewhere else. He blinked, his eyes still blurry. He couldn't tell where he was. All he knew he was sitting and the where was was oddly familiar to him, put he couldn't piece together where he was. But man was this seat comfy.

How long was he out? And why was he even unconscious. How long has it been. Hours? Days? Weeks? Months?!

…..Ok he knew months was a bit a stretch but the rational side of his head was out of commision right now. At least that's what his splitting headache suggest anyways.

He tried to move his head to look around but winces a the sharp pulsing behind his helmet. _Wait helmet?_

Oh yeah his helmet. He looked through his cracked visor, trying to focus his vision on his surroundings.

Then he recognised where he was….

He was in Blue's cockpit.

"Blue?" he called out softly.

At the sound of Blues soft rumble, Lance relaxes his body at the cloak of comfort she sends to him, basking himself in her warmth.

"Hey beautiful" he sighs softly.

He felt his mind focusing more and more, his surrounding became less hazy, and more focused. He could feel the numbing sensation slowly disappear and could feel the feeling in his body return.

Lance sighed.

Then the pain came.

A wave of intense pain pulsed through his body, causing him to scream in pain. The more and more he woke, the pain sharpening and intensified more and more. He grits his teeth, fighting the urge to scream out.

 _Oh God, Oh God, Oh God-_

He trembled in his seat. His body twitched now and again from the pain circling around inside his body. He lets out a small whimper, the pain coming in painfully unbearable waves. He tries to let out a breath, that came out short and shaky.

Ok Lance calm down. He can deal with this. Just deep breaths, he thinks.

He tries to breath in, ignoring the uncomfortable probing of his ribs, obviously broken and injured, and holds its but quickly releasing it. He did it once more and then again and again. He continued the process till he could feel the pain to lessen to a more bearable way, unlike the scream worthy and "makes even tough guys cry like babies" pain from earlier.

He could feel his entire body, loosen and relax slightly in an effort to stop the waves of pain flushing through him.

"I'm okay" he gulps outs, his eyes clenched shut. "I'm okay"

Thats right, he's not alone. He has Blue. And he can do this. He can deal with this. He wasn't alone.

"Okay" he whispered. "Okay"

He lets out a shaky breath before opening his eyes -when did he close them?- and carefully looked down to the his left leg. His vision squirmed for a moment before he squinted and focussed again. What he saw sent his heart to stomach. Lance paled.

He still had his paladin uniform on, his white leg guard cracked and shattered in some places but still holding together like the rest of his armor. The boots of his lower armor cracked and had a gaping hole of the back right side of his lower thigh to his ankle. What skin was seen was bruised and swollen. His gaze went to his undersuit. It was ripped from the thigh and his knee, torn to the bottom of his leg guard. Small cuts and scratches littered along the tears, like a decorative piece. Then there was the most noticeable thing. His bullet wound.

Where a simple, neat bullet hole was now a soft, mushed and larger hole, a slight dip where the wound once was. The flesh surrounding the lump hole was plumped and a tinged in a dark purple, almost navy, black colour. The rest was large and swollen, and red from the obvious infection. His veins dusted in a dark stain of black blue, darkening the closer it was to the injury, while flakes of skin dusted around the black of his undersuit, small and sparse.

The blood that was once flowing out his wound was caked and crusted around the edges of the bullet hole. Pores of puss decorated and floated on the inner rings of the bullet holes, plumped and bubbling enough to burst and ooze out of the wound. The butterscotch yellow tang mixing with the flowing scarlet red of his blood.

 _Oh God_

His chest felt tight. Too tight. Tightening and tightening to the point where he couldn't breath. Oh shit.

That was definitely infected. Was it suppose to be that lumpy. Oh Quiznak he might get sick. This was bad. So bad. Not even close to the scale of okay.

How long was he unconscious for. Hours? Days? He doesn't think a few hours would cause his leg look like a prop from any horror movie. Dammit, he cursed, his breathes slowly quickening. The pain was definitely not helping the situation.

Then Blue pushed through his mind forcefully and swarmed gently against their bond. Her warm blue circling and dancing in their bond as she purrs encouragingly to him. He tries to ease panic and turns to his and Blue's bond.

 _You can do it...My Paladin_

He was scared. Quiznak, he was so scared. What was he going to do. What if someone attacks them?

 _Protect_ , Blue promises.

But he can't fight. He can't even _walk_. What was he going to do. How was he gonna to eat. To drink. And his leg. What if the infection gets worse. Oh God what if he dies here. He can't die. He has too see his family again. He has to save them. He has to get back Voltron. Oh _Quiznack_ he was so scared. What was he going to do. _What was he going t-_

 _Paladin!_

Blue roars, freezing Lance and his thoughts. His mind goes eerily blank, his earlier panicked disappear in an instant. He slowly tears his gaze from his infection leg and looks around the cockpit. His fear etched and stoned on his face.

 _My Paladin. Protect_

Her voice rumbles gently, soft and filled with such emotions. Lance gulps. He didn't understa-

 _I. Protect_

…

...

 _Oh_

Lance eyes widen and turns straight to the very front of Blue's cockpit. Oh, he thought. He stared and stared at the control panel in shock. His mouth gaped open at the realization. Earlier he didn't understand what Blue was trying to say. But know he knows. Now he understood.

' _I'll protect you'_

Lance feels the tears fall against his cheek before he realised he was crying. He looked, eyes wide, at his lap. He couldn't speak. His emotions bubbled at the serenity in her voice. The power of her promise, so strong and serene, he felt his body tremble. Lance swallowed the lump in throat. He looks up again.

Lance smiles.

"Thanks beautiful"

His smile falls though as he tries to remember why he was here in the first place. Then it clicked. The rescue. The infiltration of Zarkon's central command. Then the fights, Saving Allura and Shiro and the escape.

The _wormhole_

Oh stars, his team. Immediately, he opened his mouth, his voice shaky and weak.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

Silence..

"Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?"

"Allura?"

 _Static..._

"Shiro?"

 _More static..._

"Pidge? Hunk?"

 _Nothing..._

"Keith?"

There was no reply. Great the comms weren't working. "Guess that means it's just you and me for now, Blue." God, he hoped they were okay. Wherever they were.

Actually, know that he thinks about it...

"Where are we?" he muttered to himself

Suddenly the screen from his right light up, a flurry of words rolled through the screen in, thankfully, English. He mentally thanks the lion before he looks at the information displayed on the screen.

There was no name or identification of the planet and was labeled as Unknown. Oh the planet seem mainly habitable and there's some life on the planet. That's good. The planet seemed relatively safe too.

Oh. He can breathe here…..that's good to know. At least now he doesn't have to worry about saving oxygen huh.

He turns back to the front of the control panel. "How are you doing Blue?" he asked. He could hear Blue whine in pain before the lights and panels flickered briefly before stabilizing again. Then a diagram of Blue popped up on the main screen, some of her body shaded in a dangerous red, warning and attention sign blaring close to each red area.

That's not good. He looks at the screens in concern, the sweat on his forehead glisten against the blue of the screens. He could see some damage on her side and her left back leg, the damage bad but fixable.

God he wish Pidge was here right now.

Then something caught his attention. He noticed the most of the damage was on the left side and one of the blasters engine seemed to be slightly busted.

So they can't just fly back back to the Castle

 _Great_

Even if they could, where would they go? He had no clue where they could be. Heck, they could be on the other side of the Universe for all he knows. He tries to ignore the fear that settled into his gut and mentally shakes it off. He had think.

He needed a plan.

Food and medicine was the most important for him right now. He needs to a source of water too, knowing he would need water more than food, food only being a second priority.

He already had Blue to coop himself in so he didn't have to worry about shelter. His biggest concern right now was his leg. Food and water wouldn't matter if he dies from the infection in his leg. He needed herbs. Or medicine preferable.

"Blue, do we still have any of those healy cubes Coran gave us?"

When they first started out as Paladins, Coran gave them these oddly blue glowing cube. He told him and the other paladins that it was a good idea to keep these in their lions, as a precaution. Just in case they needed to treat any injuries during a mission and didn't have a healing pod available to them.

A screen popped up, displaying their supplies and yup no more healy cubes. He must've used them all up on the last mission. Lance sighed. "Great" he drawled out.

Herbs on this planet it is then…

He looked over his other supplies and notice he had no more bottled water left either.

 _Fantastic_

Just amazing. He guessed he just had to hope this planet has drinkable water.

Another thing he had think about was the damage on Blue. Before he could get back to team he needs to find something to help fix Blue. He knew that each could long term heal damage done to themselves but Lance had to be realistic here.

He knew Blue wasn't the best lion when it came to self repair and he knew it took very long periods of time for a lion alone to repair any damage done to them. Time they didn't have.

The only thing they could do was for Lance to find things that would help repair the most important damage on Blue with the guidance of Blue. But that means he would need to bet tools and other things that would he would need to fix her up. Meaning he had to go and find a place where any friendly aliens would be happen to have those tools.

Lance sighs, swiping the sweat on his temples with the back of his hand, the action causing the dull ache in his muscle to rise up.

But right now he needed to find something that could help his leg before did anything else. Then he would get some food and when he has that, he will try and explore and hopefully find a village or town that could help him.

Well….he had some kind of plan now.

This shouldn't be too hard.

 _Hopefully…_

"What do you say Blue. Ready for some exploring?" he tries to sound bright and happy, but it comes out shaky and weak. Lance can't help but cringe slightly at the sound of his voice.

However, either Blue didn't noticed and pretend to not notice and responded a worried purr before she whines in pain. Lance reaches out to the front panel, ignoring the pain that sparked on his ribs as his hand trembled, rubbing it against the cool metal comfortingly, hoping to comfort Blue in some way.

"Don't worry, girl. I'm gonna do everything to get us out of here." he whispered. "I promise."

He smiled at the soft purr that grazed his mind. Such love and faith emitted from her rumbles. Okay, Okay. He could do this. He _can_ do this.

Slowly and carefully, he gripped one of the armrest as he tried to raise himself from the seat. The calm but seething pain flared up like a fire, strong and intense.

He winces, stiffening. He could hear Blue's encouraging rumbles, cheering him on. He ignores the flare of pain from his leg as he tried to stand again, stumbling for a moment before finally getting onto his feet. He leaned against his pilot chair, afraid that his knees would buckle at any moment, his face drenched in sweat.

Dammit.

This might be harder than he thought.

He needed something. Something that could support his leg. A brace maybe? But Lance doubted Blue would have any braces in her cockpit. Her sullen rumble agreement only made it more likely. "Guess I'll just have to make one from scratch then" he mumbles.

Good thing he was good at art then.

So what he need. Something strong enough the keep his leg straight and supported. But what could he use? Suddenly Blue came into his mind, her presence bubbling with an idea. Without warning, on the side of his seat popped out a large drawer, causing Lance to yelp in surprise. Hanging on the edge of the drawer were two thin white metal plates.

….

That would help.

But why were they even in there? Were they the previous blue paladins? He shrugged. Guess he'll never know.

He thanked blue before he leaned over his the pilot seat, his hand stilled gripped tightly on the armrest, and he grabs the metal plates and placed them on either side of his injured leg.

He ignored the sight of his leg as he check the metal plates, seeing (and hoping) that the were the right fit.

Now something that could use keep the plates secure. A fabric. Maybe a cloth?

Wait...

Lance hobbles to the far corner of the Blue's control panel, where there were a few drawers and compartments. The opened the middle center drawer and saw it.

Resting in the compartment was a green cloth. He remembered he would always leave the cloth here after he would use it to clean the inside of Blue. He would use it whenever he had a day off in the Castle and wasn't training with the others. He loves to pamper his beautiful girl after all.

"Bingo." he muttered.

He grabbed the piece of cloth from the compartment and tore the cloth in half. He hesitantly crouched down as he carefully wrapped the two pieces of cloth around his leg, keeping the plates in place. Once he finished tying the cloths in place, he straightened back up

And Voila, that's how you make a temporary leg brace. Lance couldn't help but praise himself.

"Now to see if it works"

Hesitantly he stretched out his injured foot out and let it it hover for a moment. He took a breath before stepped away from the pilot seat. He placed the sole of his foot on the floor, pressing heavily with the weight of his body.

Lance opened his clenched eyes- when did he even close them- and was surprised by the lack of pain sparking through his leg. He pressed more forcefully and watched as they brace stayed in place. Excitement bubble through Lance.

Phase 1: Standing, complete. Now to Phase 2….. _Walking_.

"Okay, Okay. Time to shine Lancey" he mumbled.

He could hear Blue cheer him on from the sideline, encouraging him to keep going. And before he knew it he had taking his first few steps, shaking slightly but still standing on his two feet. Sure he wasn't exactly waking and more like hobbling but hobbling was better than not walking at all. He walked towards the door the exited the Blue's cockpit hesitantly.

"Alright" he huffs out.

Now to part two of Surviving with Blue plan. "Ready Blue?". And before he knew it, Blue lower her head and opened her mouth. The dimly lit cavern of her mouth dark, as a bright light shone from her mouth, almost taunting Lance to come closer to it.

Well...Here goes nothing

He steps out of Blue's mouth.

The first thing he noticed was the blinding light from the sun that shone his eyes. He covers his hand over his face, hooding his eyes from the sun's brightness. Once his eyes finally adjusted, he look around, surprised by the sight before him.

Well that was new

He was in a forest. The trees that clustered around him were strong, standing tall and higher than any trees on earth. The leaves larger than oak leaves but smaller than a palm leaves, somewhere between them, drenched in various colours of purple, reds and greens. The cool breeze rustled the leaves making an odd clattering sound as they rubbed against one another, similar to the sound of metal clashing against more metal.

The ground was soft and earthy under the soils of his shoes, the earth as brown and the grass as green just like back on earth, the grass was maybe less saturated in colour but close enough.

Above him, the sun shone brightly, basking the planet with warmth and light. It was surprisingly similar to the sun back on earth if not a little more red in its rays. Across the other side of the horizon stood the shadow of two moons. The skies were filled with no clouds, the azure skyline wide and open.

 _Be Careful,_ Blue whined out. Lance smiled. "I'm always careful" he jokes and he could feel Blue give him an eye roll in the back of his mind. Blue gives him a mocking grumble. "I can feel you rolling your eyes, Blue. Your sass is exactly what I need right now"

He hears Blue rumble a small laugh.

She sent him an innocent purr, like she was pretend she didn't know what he was talking about. Lance chuckles breathlessly. "Yeah yah. I'll it go this time. Next you won't be as lucky"

Hesitantly, he pushed himself off Blue's paw and staggers for a moment, his feet tumbling under his own weight. Once he gained some kind of balance again, he took another step. Then another and another. He hobbled to the front of Blue, The blue lion longer looming over him, as it lay ragged on the ground. He looked at Blue and couldn't help the gasp that left his lips.

He looked up a Blues metallic head, half off her face, scorched with marks and scratches. Her back, from Lance could tell was riddled with dents and tears. One of blasters were damaged and smoking slighting. Probably from the collision/fall.

"Oh Blue" he muttered. He hears her whine again, trying her best to reassure her paladin. He stares at her damaged body a little longer before shaking his head. He shouldn't just look and do nothing. He can help her more finding a village and getting them help. He turned back to the forest ahead of him.

"Well here goes nothing"

Just as he starts to set out in the definitely not scary forest, He hears Blue rumble again, incoherent this time, but Lance knew what she was going to say. "Yeah, Yeah. I'll be careful" he says and he could feel Blue scowling behind him.

"I'll be back before you know it" he says, trying to give her the biggest smile he could. She didn't respond and Lance took that as his moment to hobble to the front of the canopy of trees ahead.

Just as he reaches through the entrance between the trees, he looks around the forest. He limped on forward, keeping an watchful eye for any wild animals or Galrans nearby. He knew there wasn't really much of a chance that a Galra would be here or they would founded him and Blue long before he woke up. But better be safe than sorry right?

When he finally he finally entered into the deeps of the forest, Lance stopped and thinks. Where should he look first. The tree roots maybe? Or should he just go wherever?

Feeling panic build up in his chest Lance closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Ok Lance, remember what Callighan taught you"

 _It had been a few months since Lance joined the Garrison and he could say they were the best few months of his teenage life, minus the tests and homework of course. Him and Hunk finally reached their dream school and were even able to room each other, which of course was the best thing ever. The Garrison was just as amazing and overwhelming that Lance always dreamed it to be. It was both amazing and downright terrifying._

 _Right now he was outside on the ground of the Garrison, with Hunk and the rest of their class. "Eh Sir? When would we actually need to use this. I mean it not like this will be useful when we're in space?"_

 _Lance turned around and see freaking Will Harrison._

 _Will Harrison, son of John Harrison, the creator of Harrison Corp, one of the world's largest corporations. But Will, cocky and arrogant in all his glory, flaunted his father money and liked hurting people as a hobby. Your basic high school bully._

 _Rumour has it that Harrison only got in because of his money and connection which honestly wouldn't surprise Lance one bit. Of course it was Harrison._

 _I mean, who else was stupid enough to question Callighan._

 _Matthew Callighan_

 _But here at the Garrison he was just Callighan or Sergeant Callighan. One of the most feared teachers and superiors in the Garrison, beside Commander Iverson of course. He was generally a nice person but if you got on his bad side, your were in for the worst mistake of your life._

" _Oh oh" He heard Hunk mutter. Oh oh was right. One thing he learned in the first few months here was never_ _ **ever**_ _question Callighan. Especially his teachings._

" _Well if your crashed landed on a planet that was suitable and similar to our own and you had no food left or water, what will you do? Rot away and cry for your mother?" Callighan berated. The students snickered around Harrison silently, trying their best to keep quiet._

" _This knowledge will give you to work with while you're starving on an unknown planet or crashed off course here on Earth . And maybe this would be the thing that saves your life. So yes Harrison you do "actually need and this. In space or not."_

 _He watched as Harrison tense up and flushed with embarrassment. The rest of the student were grinning or snickering behind their sleeves._

" _Now anyone else want to question my teaching with more unnecessary stupid questions?" Callighan asked, scanning around the silent students. When no one answered him he straighten his back and gave a small smile. "Good now can anyone tell me what are-"_

Just as the memory began to fade away, Lance blinked out of the memory, his mind slowly coming back to reality. He remember that day. And all the Callighan taught them during that 2 hour class.

Thats right. He knows basic survival 101. It wasn't hard then and it wasn't gonna be hard now. "You can do this" he repeated, the words almost like a mantra to him.

" _You can do this"_

He opened his eyes and he felt his confidence rise up in him. But where to start? Suddenly he remembered his earlier question about searching through the tree roots enter his mind.

It's a start at least.

He limped on forward, moving towards the closest tree that was just a few steps ahead of him. "Might as well start off easy"

Lance looks down through the winding roots of the tree's that surrounded him. He circled around them, eyeing out for any kind of thing that he thought could help or catch his eye.

That's when he saw it. Beside a root, stood a long lanky plant, that could only resembled a garden weed, but the stems was an usually colour of peachy red. The leaves veins were a sickly blue, almost like it was glowing.

He stepped closer to the plant in question and looked at it more closely, his eyes squinted as he surveyed the plant in front of him and for anything strange…..or well _stranger_.

" _The first that you should look for when you're trying to distinguish between a poisonous and a edible it how it looks. Thorns, spines, hairs or three leaved leaves. Those are the most visible characteristic of a poisonous non-edible plant."_

Lance looks at the roots. Thorns, none. Spines? None he can see. Three-leaved? Check. Lance sighed. If only it was that easy. But Lady Luck just wasn't on his side today.

"Guess I still gotta look around"

He looked around him carefully, seeing more of the same plants around him. Maybe if he checked near the bushes he could find something.

Without some kinda a plan, he staggered around looking and peeking through any surrounding bushes near him. After a 30 minutes or so, by Lance guess, he couldn't find anything.

Nothing.

Geez, he wish Blue was close enough to help him. Im mean she is a 10,000 year old sentient robot lion so Lance wouldn't be surprised if she knew about botany or plants. Maybe he should've asked her before he left. Nice thinking Lance, he berated.

He sighed. He noticed one extra bush and contemplated. Maybe just one more then give up? He nodded to himself.

But just as he thought this was a no show, something from the corner of his eye catches his line of sight. A small weed like plant, that stood with a long but strong stem, orange petals blooming on the top. It was decorated with a view green leaves, each leaf ending with a small golden bulb.

He hobbled over, his hand still hovering against the braced leg, cautiously. As he got closer he noticed that were more of the same plant growing beside it. With a small wince, he crouches down in front of the flurry of plants. In the flurry were the same pink budded, dandelion shaped plants, their stem an acidic citrus yellow. From where Lance stood they looked pretty harmless.

"Maybe?" he murmured. Checking them out wouldn't hurt he guessed. Slowly he leaned down, wincing at the pain flaring up through his chest. Oh yeah.

Ribs.

 _Gotcha._

He slowed down, carefully this time. He leaned closer over the group of plan and reached out to one of the plants, picking it of its stem.

" _When you find any plants that don't look like it kill you instantly, check for any discoloration on the leaves or the saps. It you notice any discolouration or milkiness the throw it away. Unless you want to eat something poisonous. Your choice"_

He twirled the plant in his hand, letting it rest against his open palm. He rolled the plant

" _Another thing to keep an eye out for is the scent of almonds in the woody parts or the leaves of the plants. The sweet scent of Almond means it's has cyanide in the plant"_

Lance brought the plant towards his nose and sniffed. No almond smell. There also wasn't any visible discolouration in the leaves. No spines, fine hairs or thorns. Also no immediate irritation on his skin. Lance smiled.

Bingo

" _Jackpot"_

He picked the plants surrounded it, taking as much as he thought he needed. With a huge bundle in his hand, Lance stopped, praying that this was enough for at least a few days.

Next step, find some water. Lance rose to his feet, this time paying some effort on his possibly broken ribs. When he got he continued gripping the plants and stuffed them into his belt, let them conventionally hang on his waist. Once he was sure they wouldn't slip out, he looked around the heavily shrouded forest.

Suddenly, Lance hears a loud rustle from behind him and tenses. Hesitantly, he turned around activating his bayard that was still stored in his armor. He gripped it tightly as he watches his surrounding. He hear the rustle becoming louder and more frantic.

Suddenly a figure burst through the bushes beside him catching Lance off by surprise. If anyone told that Lance had shrieked like a girl in that moment, he would deny it forever.

In front of him was a small creature. It looked arounded, not really taking notice to him, it's small pebbled nose twitched and it looked around with their bright pink eyes. It had a small and spiky tail on it's hind, stained in a greenish golden colour, just like the rest of the creatures skin.

Lance tilted his head. If you take out the weird colour fur and the pinky glowing eyes it kinda looked like a rabbit."It's kinda cute" he muttered to himself. Well if you ignored the giant sabertooth fangs.

He watched as the small creature scurried through the bushes in front of him, a soft rustle before silence again. Lance blinked.

…...Well that happened.

Lance shoulder slouched, his heart finally coming down. He took a deep breath until he heard it. He heard a sound. Something like a splash.

Like water.

Lance straightened up, hope bubbling inside him. "Calm down, Lance. Don't get your hopes up", he whispered to himself. He closed his eyes and concentrated. It didn't sound too far away.

"There" he yelled.

Immediately, he turns his head to the direction where he heard the sound came from. As he limped on, the sound became louder and louder. It was coming from the same direction where that weird rabbit that wasn't actually a rabbit ran off to.

Instantly he staggers through the bush and looked at the scenery before him in glee. In front of him was a large lake, it's ever blue water glistening in the reflection of the sunlight. What looked like lily pads were floating on the outskirt of the lake, their lilac hue contrast with the azure blue of the water.

Lance fell to his knee and cupped some water in his trembling hands before pouring it into his opened mouth and relished of the water in his mouth. Oh _Dios,_ this was so good. When was the last he drank anything?

 _Too long_ , his mind offered.

He continued scoping water into the palms of his hands , gulping the amazing cool liquid. He didn't care that he was soaking his gloved hands, which he _knows_ he'll be whining about later. All he could think about was the refreshing sensation of cool water running through his dry throat.

Once he had enough, Lance tried swipe the back of his hand against his wetted lips. He was so glad that he was finally able to get some water around her but something struck in his mind.

He needed to bring some back with him. But there was one problem….

He had nothing to store the water with.

Lance groans, he just had to forgot that little detail, didn't he? How on Earth did he forget about that of all things. Heck he didn't even bring anything to store the plants he got. He really should plan this stuff out more.

Okay, okay. So he needed to store it but how?

"Come on Lance, think"

He could always go back to Blue and see if she had anything that he could use. A bottle maybe?. Or maybe even a bucket.

…

…

 _Yeeeeeeah_ no, he doubts Blue would have a random bucket in her.

Lance rub his hand against his head absently and was caught off guard by the unexpected feel of the helmet. Oh yeah. He completely forgot about the helmet.

…..Again.

That's when Lance got an idea. "Maybe..?" He trails of as he raises his hand and slowly takes off his helmet, cautious of any head injuries that could graze against the helmet. Once the helmet was off his head, he could feel the breeze rustle through his strands of hair. It felt so good. Lance hummed at the sensation.

Why didn't he think off doing this earlier?

Nevermind. He went back to business. With the helmet on hand he scooped the helmet into the lake and let the water rushed in the cavern of the helmet, before lifting the helmet and beamed at the sight of the water nestled calmly in his helmet.

" _Tada!"_

Now he had something to store the water with. Surely it wasn't the greatest thing and it was kinda disgusting considering that he was wearing it earlier and was probably sweaty but-

"Its sure better than than nothing" he mumbles. Blue was gonna laugh at him for this. Speaking of Blue..

"Time to get back to Blue"

Carefully, he stood up. With one hand holding his "food" and the other a water filled helmet. Pidge was definitely going to laugh at him when he tells her about this. But hey…

Maybe things weren't as bad

Ok so maybe things weren't that bad.

They were _terrible._

It's been over two days since he woke up. Once he found enough edible plants to eat and water that he found in a nearby lake on his way back to Blue, he hobbled back to Blue and had her check her database about the stuff he found, which thankfully, were identified as non-poisonous. Seeing as he didn't find any sign of a village while he was looking around, they both decided to try the next day.

Since their wasn't really anywhere to sleep in Blue beside the pilot seat, Lance decided that he would sleep outside, right beside her. At first Blue refused but after a lot of begging on Lances part she relented.

With that he setted up a fire with broken sticks that were lying around and using his blaster to start the flame, hoping it would keep him warm for the entire night. Since he didn't have anything to use as a pot except his water-filled helmet, Lance grudgingly had to eat his "food" raw. Which was the worst thing he's tasted. Even worse than Coran's famed Paladin Lunch.

Once he finished eating, he used the rest of the water he had to soak his injure and clean the wound, hoping it would lessen. At the time, he hoped that this was enough to help with his leg.

It wasn't..

Which leads him to where he is now, sitting in front of the burned out campfire two days later with an even more infected leg and a high fever.

Lady Luck _really_ hates him right now..

He'll just get some more water to cool the fever down and keep the infection at bay,he thought. Then rest for a while before looking for some kind of village or town.

Not to hard…..he hoped.

As soon as he tried to stand up, a intense wave of pain washed over him, causing him to fall back down. Lance clenched his leg as splinters of pain pricked the entire limb, his knuckles whiten at the intensity of his grip. And oh god it was hot. _Too hot._

Blue roars filled his mind, her worried whine grazing against his mind. He tries to control his breathing taking slow and deliberate breaths, hoping it would lessen the pain. He hears Blue whine again, causing Lance to distract himself from the pain. Lance bit his lip.

"I'm fine Blue" he said, his voice scratchy. He grunted as he tried to get on his feet once, this time succeeding. He fumbles over his feet but finally gets some balance. Lance let out a small breath could hear Blue scoff at him. He could practically hear the unvoiced disagreement in her voice. "Blue-" he starts before he winces in pain. Yeah maybe it wasn't time to debate with your big sentient lion partner.

Blue gives him the equivalent of an a deadpanned look, pointing out exactly what she meant. "Ok maybe not fine. But I will be once I get some more water and have a little more beauty sleep. Okay girl?"

There was silence before Blue rumbles to him, begrudging but resigned. Lance smiles. "Thanks beautiful." Blue rolls her non-existent eyes.

 _Thank...When youngling...Better_

Her voice was slightly distorted, fragmented but he heard enough. He tried to pretend not to notice and faked a smile, for both their sake.

"Hey I'm not a " _youngling"!_ I'm a very mature adult" he pouted, crossing his arms like a child and happy when he hear rumble in amusement for his antics. His smile falls as he draws attention back to his leg. With stares at it for a moment before dropping his gaze towards the ground.

Shaking his head, he grabbed his helmet from the floor, ignoring the lightness in his head. With a grunt, he rose up and felt the blood rush through his head, pulsing painfully through his temples. He just continued ignoring it.

Maybe he did have a concussion. Lance mentally shrugs. He would deal with that later, he thought. For now he had more important things to deal with. Besides he wasn't that bad, he could make do till he returned back.

But just as he lifted his foot, he felt the entire world turn to its side, gravity pulling him down to the ground. He didn't notice was falling until he felt the rough soil underneath him and the dirt smudges against his cheek.

His entire froze up and he couldn't help but whimper at the burning sensation coursing through his entire body. His body screamed in pain, his blood sizzling under his skin. It was unbearable. But at the same time, he was cold, icy shivers contracting his entire being. How could be so cold yet so unbearably warm?

And he didn't know it was for better or for worse but-

He couldn't feel his leg.

He lay on the ground paralyzed, his body too tired to move by will alone. But his mind screamed in fear but he couldn't concentrate on his thought.

 _Oh no, no, no, no, no-_

This was _bad._ This was _**really bad.**_

 _Blue,_ his mind tried to call out but his consciousness slurred and slowly falling from his grasp.

His eyelids felt inhumanly heavy and watched in terror as a veil darkness narrowed through his vision. He could hear Blues cries of terror as the he continued to slip closer to the darkness.

 _Oh no_

Then…

Darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Blue was worried.

It wasn't unusual for her to be worried. Especially after losing so much in the past 10,000 years. Losing Altea. Losing her precious Paladin. Being separated by the rest of the lions, her _pack_. And sitting alone in that desert for ten thousand years, her hope of never finding a way back to her pack dimmed decade after decade. Slowly disappearing as the stream of tie stretched on. Her fear of never finding a paladin grew. In her final year, all hope had left her and she believed no one would come.

Until she meet him.

When she felt the cluster of presence enter the cave, curiosity and hope pulsed through her system. She felt something pull to her. Telling her to see them. She didn't understand at first but let them in either way.

She watched as the group of Earthlings came crashing down through the water tunnels (Blue almost laughed as a few screamed like they just saw a Hobbleglob, she tried her best not to chuckle at the imagery). Through the group, all diverse and unique in their own ways, she saw him.

He wasn't Blaytz. Not the warrior ahe once was or even ocean dweller like he was. A simple Earthling. Or that's what most would see. But Blue saw different. Yes, he wasn't Blaytz but he was something unique. His spirit strong and powerful as the ocean abut calm and composed as the winds.

Even there in the array of colour of quintessence, stood his beautiful, brilliant blue. And the bluest eyes she had ever seen, ones that reminded her of her homelands oceans. Even in the fantastical group before her, all amazing and unique. Smart, strong and all worthy of the title of Paladin. To be not _her_ paladin.

Except him. No one compared to him.

The moment she laid her eyes upon the mocha skinned boy she knew.

She found him.

 _Her Paladin._

The first time they flew together in that desert, her heart soared once again, just like all those centuries ago. She could feel the boy's excitement collide with her own, thrumming stronger and stronger. Flying together as one. Being free as water in a stream.

She felt _alive._

That flight became one of many. And in many battles…

But each battle or hardship, they both conquered them all, together. Their bond continued to grow stronger and stronger. They took comfort in one another. Lance with homesickness and Blue with her grief on Altea and the previous Paladins. Even with so much expectations of what a her Paladin must be and the other fellow Paladins flourishing in their titles, Lance never stop trying. He was never pressured by Blue's previous paladin and his greatness. He was just happy to have her.

And she was just the same.

She knew her small Paladin never felt fit to be a Paladin and was insecure of his position on the team. Blue only wished he could see how amazing he was. But whenever she tried to speak with her Paladin he would shrug it off, hiding the pain behind that smile.

Sometimes Blue hated those smiles...

But they still worked together, mingling in each other's mind, in pure, perfect sync. Stronger than any bond Blue has ever felt. Even more than hers and Blaytz.

Even with the raging war that surrounded them, Blue felt like they could take on the universe together and her precious paladin will never suffer as long as she was there to protect him.

That is, until the Princess was kidnapped.

She recalled the sense of anxiety that drummed between the Paladins and the Lions as they tried to find the princess. The wave of fear and determination mingling together as they fought past warship after warship. The absolute terror her and the other lions felt as Black separated from them, dispersing them all to fight alone.

Or the immense fear she felt when she hear the sound of the bullet as it hit her paladin.

She knew her Paladin was unwell but all she could do was watched as his condition worsened by the day.

Continuously, he tried to reassure her, assuring it wasn't as it looked. But Blue knew better. She knew he wasn't getting better. It was worse than it was before. Her worry only growing stronger as she heard the slight whimpers and winces as he sleep. His face drenched in sweat.

She tried to place her faith with her Paladin, hoping he would find away to heal himself. But when he woke up, his face sickly paler than before and the heavy bags that hung under his eyes, she wasn't so sure anymore.

Still, he tried to keep face and prayed to her Blaytz to help her small paladin get through this. But the second she watched her paladin fall to the ground, lying there, unmoving, she lost all hope. The minute she saw his body collide onto the earthy beneath, fear gripped her entire being.

She felt like it was ten thousand years again. Watching her paladin once again get worse and worse. And her not able to even help them and was forced to watch as her small paladin continued to lay on the ground, his mind slowly falling deep into unconsciousness. And Blue couldn't help the fear of never seeing him awake again.

She didn't know what to do. What she _could_ do. At times like this, she wished she was able to leave this metallic body of her and hel her sweet paladin. She cursed her body. Watching her paladin as he lay there, in cold and in pain-

She couldn't another paladin. Not again,.

Not like this.

Not _him..._

And in that moment, she did the only thing she could do.

She _**roared**_

Ceri woke up, gasping. She shot upright from her bed, panting heavily as looked frantically around the bed with a cold sweat.

Her heart drummed heavily against her chest as she looked around to see nothing in her room. Her shoulder sagged in relief. She looked down to her hand which clenched tightly on her duvet.

 _Was that all a dream?_

"What a weird dream" she whispers, rubbing the corner of her eyes absently.

It wasn't like any night terrors she's ever had before. It was different. It wasn't causing her to be afraid but rather...overwhelmed. Curious even.

All she remembered was that screeching roar.

But what was roaring at her? And why wasn't she afraid of it. She knew this tight knot in her chest wasn't for the creature or it's roar.

But the meaning behind the roar.

It almost sounded like...it was grieving. Mourning..

Ceri shook her head, trying those banish her thoughts from her mind. "It was just a weird dream nothing more" he muttered to herself. She looked out of the window in front of her. It was morning, the daylight shining through the glass of the window.

She sighed. Just another day. Sluggishly, she swung her foot over to the edge of her bed. She yawned as she stretched her arms over head, satisfied at the pulling sensation in her muscle as she did so.

Then, a voice boomed from downstairs, interrupting her from the action. "Ceri, get out of bed. Breakfast is ready!" her father's baritone voice resounded from the wooden floor, low and strong as usual.

"I'm coming" Ceri yelled back. She walked over the edge of her bed, where her clothes hung on the bedpost. She grabbed her favorite blouse. It was long sleeve that ended at just below her knees. The front was tied up with a small thread that crossed the top part of the blouse. It was bright blue, embroidered with a white and green on the sleeves and edges of the top. She also wore her dark brown trouser.

Once she was done getting dressed she left her room and sluggishly down the stairs. From there she could smell the soft scent of their breakfast. She smiled slightly at the sound of her father humming from the kitchen. When she reached the door to the kitchen, she pushed it open, ignoring the loud creaking as it swung open.

The kitchen was relatively small, just like the rest of the rooms in the cabin. The walls and floors made only from different kinds of wood that Ceri didn't even bother to remember. It was wood….and more wood. Wood was just wood. Nothing fantastic. At least to her anyways.

Beside wood flooring, wooden tables and wooden...everything, the room was decorated with small frames and photos and a few junky looking antics. Even if it was small, it was homey. And bright.

Across the room was her father, his back facing her as he messed around with the pots and plates, scuffling them to different spots on the counter or throwing them in the cleaner. His giant broad shoulder were hunches forwards as he messes with the stove fire, picking at the burnt wood with a small metal poker.

When her father finally notices her, he looks up from the fire and smiles brightly, his eyes crinkling at the ends.

"Good morning"

"Mornin- " Ceri mumbled back but was cut off by a yawn.

Her father smiles. "I see that Elpa seemed compelled to keep you away from the waking world" her father teases, his eyes turned back to their breakfast. She yawned. She could smell the sweet smell of thurg meat and Willowfigs herb soup fill the room. Her stomach rumbles lightly at the smell.

"I can't help it if the mother of dreams and night likes me so much" she counters. Her father laughs, a soft rumble that came from his chest. "Well I'm sure you keep her company long enough that she had gotten bored by your silly antics in her world" he joked.

"Ha ha. Your just full of humour today. Something good happen?" she asked, making her way across the wooden table to her seat.

"As a matter of fact, yes" her father hummed. He placed their breakfast onto the wooden plates beside them before grabbing them and walking towards the dining table. "Lofo and Xara found some new scraps out on the outskirts, near the galra base. Their planning to make something, I don't know yet, but they asked for my engineering assistance." he puffs out his chest in pride.

Ceri laughs grabbing the plate that her father handed to her. "That's great!" she says. "But I can't help but wonder what they're up to. They always end up getting the Galra troops into their mess" she takes a bite of breakfast, moaning at the delicious taste of thurg meat in her mouth.

"But I'm glad you finally got some work again. It's great business that they came to you. I know you can do what they need you to do"

When Ceri finishes wolfing down the last bit of meat on her plate, she looks up to see her father smiling softly.

"Thank you, darling"

Ceri smiles back. "Just telling the truth, Papa"

They sat down, eating the rest of their meal in a peaceful, comfortable silence, neither one wanting to break the quiet peace they have. Once Ceri finished eating her dinner, she took a sip of water from her cup before placing it down and grabbing her plate.

She stood up from the chair, ignoring the soft screech of the legs as it moved back against the wooden flooring. She placed her plate onto the counter before, Ceri left the room, smiling softly as she glanced at her father looking at his tablet with such concentration as she walked out of kitchen. She walked towards the front and grabbed her worn out shoes, slowly putting them on.

"I'm leaving Papa.!" she called out. She opens the door, one hand on the handle and the other grabbed the basket that lay against the entrance wall. "Oh? What for?" she heard him call out from the kitchen.

"I have to get those herbs for dinner tonight remember? Unless you want to have thurgan stew _again_ for the fourth night" Ceri reminded him. She looked behind her and saw her father come through the door.

"Do you have your basket with you then?"

"Yes Papa" she replies, lifting the basket in her hand. "And your knife?" he continues. She rolls her eyes.

" _Yes_ Papa" she answered in a terse tone. They stood in silence before she hears her father sigh, his hand resting into his forehead.

" _Ceri-_ "

"Papa, I know what you're going to say but do you really think I need a -" she starts but was cut of by her father's hardened gaze.

"Ceri we've been over this" he says sternly. "I know you don't think you need that knife but what happens if you were attacked out there" He softened his gaze and places his hands on her shoulders. "Those Galra soldiers are still out there patrolling ever since the _incident_ and Gods knows what they might do. Especially with what's been going on lately in the village" he trails off, leaving them both in silence. Not wanted to say more about that.

Living under the Galran empire, they understood that life wouldn't be easy but they made through it. Especially for such a small planet like theirs. Still, it didn't mean that they didn't have to deal with many tragedies through their reign. Her father smiled again and broke the silence.

"But Goddess knows that I will feel better knowing you had it with you" he muttered, his voice soft and honest. Ceri's shoulders sag and she nods mutely. "Fine. I'll bring it if it makes you feel better" she relents. Her father grins

"Now I shouldn't keep you. Can't make that Salcs soup you love so much without those mushrooms". Her father kissed her forehead. "Be Careful". Ceri smiles.

"I will Papa"

She rushes out the door, the soft breeze grazing against her face. She waves back to her father as she headed out. "I won't be long!" she yelled before bolting through the forest.

The forest was quiet, just like any other time she came here. The only noise heard was the soft rustles of the embar tree and the scurry of the wildlife around her. She always loved the forest. The peace and serenity calming her mind. It's the only place where can just _breathe._

Especially with everything happen right now.

She closed her eyes and took in everything. The fresh air, the soft scent of grass and mossy bark filling her lungs. She took a deep breath. She opened her eyes, feeling regenerated.

"Now where to look first" she mumbled. Then she remembered. There was slight open field where lots salc mushrooms tend to grow, just around the edge of the forest. That's a good place to start.

Humming lightly, she made her way to through the heavy veiled forest, quietly taking in the peace of the woodland. Absently she swerved through the canopy of trees, not once having to look around and tell where she was. Here, she could guide herself through the forest blindfolded, knowing every inch of this forest like the back of her hand.

Finally, she reached the canopy of trees that circled around the open field. She looked at the tree's around her eyeing the roots with heavy focus. "Aha" she whispered, triumphantly. She reaches down to the tree across from her and couldn't help but smile at the sight of salc mushroom, cluster around its roots. They were so many, even for a whole day's worth.

Ceri leaned down as she picked the mushrooms below the root, carefully placing them in her wicker basket. When she thought she had enough , she let an affirm hum before getting back on her feet.

Absently, she looked at the open field ahead of her and pondered. Maybe she should go out and see if she get some herbs too. If she remembered right there was some dreva roots that grew in the grassy plains.

Without a second thought, she made her way out of the canopy of the trees and into the open area, the sun's rays momentarily blinding her before her eyes adjusted. Ceri looked around, scanning the ground for any kind of herbs and caught the sight of some dreva roots a little ahead of her. She hopped her way towards the herbs, humming slightly in delight.

Lazily, she dropped down to her knees and pinched of the dreva herbs from their stem. Slowly, she puts them in her basket with the rest of what she got, satisfaction thrumming through her. She can't wait to use this for dinner tonight. Her Papa will love it too.

She doesn't bother getting up on her feet, too busy enjoying the sun's ray's basked her as she sat there. Ceri looks up to the clear azure blue sky, admiring the beautiful day it was. She closes her eyes, enjoying the soft sensation of the wind brushing lazily past her, her hair wafting slighting in it's breeze.

For a moment she just felt like she the whole world just stopped for a moment. She just wanted to lay down on the long grass and just relaxes. But her da was waiting for her, she probably shouldn't let him wait too long.

Without one finally inhale, she opened her eyes and reaches for her basket before getting up from the ground.

Just as she rose up onto the balls of her feet, she notices the odd smell of….. burnt wood? That wasn't right. Why didn't she notice it earlier? But she couldn't deny the scent, too familiar to think it was anything else.

Something didn't feel right. She tenses. She clenched her eyes, begging her heart to stay quiet in her chest. Hesitantly she looked around and froze.

She didn't noticed she dropped her basket till she heard it smack against the ground, but didn't care as she looked up in awe. In front of her stood a looming figure, shadowing against the brightness of the sunlit sky.

In one word, it was _huge…_

It's yellow acidic eyes, glowing dimly in the sun's shade. It reminded her of the Galran but they didn't hold the same vicious or evil that theirs does. Instead they were soft and powerful but _serene_. And calming. Just like an ocean.

The figures metal body reflected against the sun's rays, it's silver and blue skin shone brightly. She noticed some scratches and black marks tinting some of the creature's body but they were unnoticed by the strange sight before her.

How she didn't noticed it first, she'll never know.

It was so….big

It was huge. Gigantic even. It loomed over her, its giant head resting heavily in front of her. And so _Blue_ as the ocean waves. It was beautiful and absolutely terrifying. But she felt safe with it oddly enough.

It looked just like the story of Voltron had described them to be. Large. Powerful. _Alive._

Oh Goddess, this was exactly what she thought it was. Her favorite lion from the tales since she was a youngling.

The Blue Lion...

"Sweet Kalifi" she said. Thank the goddess that her father wasn't her to scowl her for her words. This was amazing. By Elpa's word, this had to be a dream right. The story of Voltron was just a tale.

This couldn't be the Blue lion from that story. But the image fits. There was no way this blue lion shaped ship _wasn't_ the legendary Blue Lion.

Ceri couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't tear her gaze from it if she even tried. Her shoulders and jaw slack in awe as she just continues to gaze at the ship in astonishment.

However she was drawn from the sight at the sound of a low groan. She turned her gaze where she saw a something underneath the large robotic figure. She tenses. Hesitantly, she grabs the knife from her sachet, the black wrapped handle and grey blue blade, shining against the sun. She takes a step towards the figure, her hand held tightly against the blade. She stepped closer and closer until she gotta a better view of the figure.

She took in the boy's features, aweing at the soft caramel skin and his dark mocha hair that slightly curled against his skin. As she looked closer she noticed the soft prickles of frickles dusted under his cheeks and on the bridge of his nose.

She tilted her head curiously. She never seen his kind of species before. Though she hasn't since many variety of species here but she was sure she's never even heard of this kind of species before?

She couldn't help but relish at the boy's soft and unusual mocha coloured skin, it's skin soft and smooth. No scales or horns, or even any markings.

From the looks of it, it seems pretty….harmless. Frail even.

And why did he look so _pale_? Was that normal for his species? Curiously, she looks around him, inspecting his face and body with simple curiosity.

That's when she saw the blood.

Surrounding his leg was a pool blood, oozing through the bandage. Cuts both deep and shallow scattered over his lower body. And what were those metal plates on his leg?

Oh Goddess', he was injured. Immediately she dropped the knife in her hands and crouched down beside the boy. Without her realising, her hand reached out towards him, cupping the side of his face. He felt herself panic at the strong heat he was emitted through his mocha brown skin. It was too warm, even Ceri knew this wasn't right. She flinches in surprise when she her the boy moan in pain.

Ceri gulped.

He needed help.

But she didn't know what to do…

Then she felt something click in her mind. "But Papa does" she whispers to herself. She needed her father's help. Hesitantly she retracted her hand from his cheek. She rose to her feet, rolling to the balls of her heels and turns around, just about to run back but stops and looks at the boy once more.

She looks at him with concern before close her head, remembering that she needed to act fast. "Don't worry" she starts, knowing he couldn't hear her but she couldn't help but feel the need to reassure him.

"Help is on the way"

Arkus couldn't help the small grunt that escaped his mouth as he fidgeted with the circuit cube before him. "Come on you quiznaking-

 _Zap_

He couldn't help but curse under his breathe as another electric charge jolted through his body, the entire cube sparking up like it was pitying him. Arkus pinched his nose.

Lofo really outdone himself this time.

This communicator is a mess. What does Lofo even hope he can do. He's an engineer. Not a miracle worker. Arkus sighed heavily, leaning heavily against the wooden he tries to dislodge the knots building up in his temples from the stress.

Or maybe it was from the shocks. In the long it didn't matter.

"Papa, Papa!"

Arkus smiled, his eyes still trained on the object in front of him. "You're back early. Couldn't find anything?" he shouted out to her.

He turned around the minute his daughter burst into the room and all the lightness left him. He gazed at his daughter, her hand resting heavily against the open door, her basket gone and nowhere to be seen. She looked down, panting hard like she ran here, her pastel green hair that was brushed and groomed was now disheveled.

Something wasn't right.

"Ceri what is it" he pressed. He watched as she raise her head and gathered her breath.

"A bo-boy...in the..f-forest" she pants out. Arkus freezes. He places down his tools and stands up from his seat, rushing towards his daughter. Arkus rushed towards Ceri, his hands gripped tightly against her shoulders.

"Who? Did he hurt you?" he asked.

"No!" she shrieked. She took another breath before speaking up again.

"Papa, he's hurt. He's need help a-and I can't lift him. I-it's really _bad and I-_ " she rambled, trailing off. She was shivering.

Arkus looks at her, thinking. What was a boy doing in a forest?

Arkus mentally shook his thought away, he knew he didn't have time to question. He raised one of his hands and cupped his daughter's cheek. He watched as she slowly raises her head, their eyes finally connecting. He could she the fear in her eyes. But not of the boy, but _for_ him.

It was times like these that Arkus couldn't but think she was just like her mother.

"Show me where he is" he says, gently. Ceri looked at her father, the fear in her eyes dimming slightly, before she nodded. He loosen his grip on her and watched as she bolted out of the room, Arkus immediately following behind her.

He followed behind his daughter as she rushed through the forest, not once stopping. She didn't even look around, so familiar to the layout, she past every bush and tree with casual recognition. When she turned right, so did he. He watched behind her as she led them out of the canopy of trees and there he found himself in an open part of the forest.

He looked at the open grassland in slight awe. He never even knew this place existed. It was beautiful. No wonder her daughter loved going to the forest if she was blessed with simple sights like theses.

Heck, even Arkus would wanted to tag along next time.

He tore his gaze from the place and was brought back by his daughter tugging at his sleeve. He looked down and saw that she was looking straight ahead. Arkus followed his gaze and he could feel his eye widen at the sight. A large metallic creature lay on its side, looming over them with its huge body. What even was that? Was it a ship? He didn't know.

He was pulled back from his thought when he hears a small groan from underneath it and watched as his daughter rushed towards the sound. Arkus immediately followed and was taken by surprise at the sight before him.

In front of him lay a boy. He was an unusual shade of mocha brown and his hair was just as dark. What he could imagine as once vibrant and luscious was dirt covered and matted on the boys forehead. He could tell this boy was definitely not his kind or any he has seen before.

The looked over the boy and noticed the small hand made brace on one of his legs. It wasn't hard to figure out that the boy didn't land with that ship like this. From the looks of it, the boy had woken up and roamed around till his injuries got the better of him.

He scanned over the braced leg and noticed the blood matted cloth covering the injury. Carefully he untied the cloth and went pale at the sight before him. The majority of the leg was covered with a dark undersuit but their was large tearings that gave him enough view that twisted his inside.

Through the tearing he could he see the mocha skin, darken to a sickly blue and black colour, patches of discolored all the calf of the leg. Surrounding it was a crisps and flakes of dried skin and blood that matted on his upper ankle and lower calf.

Underneath the cloth was the worst part of it all.

On his leg was a large and gaping hole, the surrounding ring of flesh was mushed with the mingle of butterscotch yellow pus and white oozing pores, bubbling and swollen.

The wound hung like a lump of flesh, sludged and lumped unevenly across the skin. Around the open hole in the leg, the skin that surrounded was a sickly mixture of black and navy, the color dancing over the entire skin in large uneven patches, only small fractures of mocha skin coming through.

Arkus gulped at the sight. He could feel the bile rise to is throat. What he guess was a simple injury morphed into a goreish nightmare.

He could hear his daughter gasp and didn't have to look up to see the tears dancing in her eyes. "Oh Kalifi" she whispered, her voice quiet and shaken.

Even with it's extreme state, he knew those kind of wounds. They weren't from a fall and certainly not just from a crash. Those were battle wounds. This boy was fighting something or someone. And from the looks of it. Something with weapons.

 _Galra,_ his mind hissed.

He also noticed the boy was wearing some kind of armor. Was he fighting the Galra's? He never seen that kind of armor before. Was he a rebel?

And with such injuries, how was the boy even breathing. Or better yet, how was he even _alive_ …

"Papa , he's just a teenager" she whispers. She looks up at her father, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "What could do something to cause this to a teenager?" she asked. But Arkus couldn't answer. He too wished he knew. But he knew this boy was more than just a teenager. If the armor and injuries prove that.

"I don't know, sweetheart. I don't know"

He watched as his daughter looked down at the injured boy again before wiping the unshed tears in her eyes. She looked back, her eyes filled with determination. "Okay what do we do?" she asked, her intentions solely on the injured boy before her. Her need to help him flashing strongly in her eyes.

He never dealt with such extreme injuries. He didn't even know what he could do. What he can _do._ All he knew was that this was bad. Very bad.

The needed a healer. And _quickly_.

"Ceri go get Healer Aielin. Now!"

"But what about the boy" she asked, worryingly.

"Don't worry. I'll bring him back to the cabin. But while I do that I need you to get the healer. Can you do that?"

She looked at him but nodding, her eyes flared up with determination. She rose up to her feet and turned around just about to run ahead but froze. She turned her gaze to her father once more before running off, straight through the canopy of the forest.

Arkus turned back to the wounded boy,. Carefully he scooped the kid into his arms, one arm holding up his back and the other holding under his knees. He stops a moment when he hears the kid let out a small whimper and slows down his movements. When he finally gets him resting against his chest, Arus rose to his foot and quickly made his way back to his home, but slow and careful enough to not injure the boy more.

With strong arms, he rushes through the forest, paying close attention to the swaying boy in his arms. He marched on forward till their cabin comes to his view.

When he reached to the front of their home, he notices the half open door, swaying slightly in the breeze. They probably forgot to close when they ran out, he mused absently.

Carefully he used his shoulder to push the rest the door open as he slowly fitted him and the boy through the door. Inside, he made his way up the stairs, the boy still laying limp in his arms as he reached the spare room.

He glanced at the boy as his breaths became quicker than before, his forehead drenched in sweat. He looked around the room and noticed the cloth that was folded on the drawer across the other side of the room. Quietly, he stood up and grabbed the piece of cloth before returning to the boys side. Crouching down, he used the cloth and lightly dabbed the boy's forehead, almost flinching at the strong heat radiating from his skin alone.

Behind him he could hear the door swing open as he laid the cloth softly on the bed. "Papa! I brought them!" Ceri panted. Behind her was the villagers healer, Aielin, her soft navy blue trench coat, waving softly as she stepped past Ceri and into the room. Aielin crossed her arms.

"Arkus, what in Kalifi's name happened! When Ceri burst in the med I thought you were hu-"

But Aieilin started but froze at the sight of the boy. "Holy Gods, what the hell happen?" Aielin whispered before turning to Arkus, giving him a hard look.

Arkus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, hoping it would relieve the knots in his mind. "We don't know. Ceri found him like this in the forest way eastward." he states. Aielin looks at him for a moment not saying a word before looking at the boy in question.

"Ceri, can you get some warm water. In a bowl preferable. Some towels or cloths please." Aielin asked, her eyes still on the injured mocha-skinned boy. Ceri nods and bolts out of the room, not closing the door behind her. Ailin turns towards him, her face stern and professional.

Just as she's about to open her mouth a shrill scream came from behind him. He tore his gaze and turned towards the boy that was once lying peacefully on the bed was now writhing on the bed.

In his hysteria the boy tried grabbed for his leg and flailed on his back in agony. He screamed again, causing Aielin's assistant approached the boy.

Aielin walked towards him, finally seeing the full extent of his injuries. "Sweet Elpa, why didn't you tell me he had these kind of injuries!" she snapped. Arkus flinches in surprise at the intense vulgar in her voice. The boy screamed again, his voice blood curdling as he flailed more.

"Dammit hold him _down_!" the healer yelled. Arkus immediately grabbed the boy's wrists as he flailed around in his grip. His eyes were slightly open, Arkus could see the beautiful blue orbs that he could imagine them once bright and shining, his eyes conveying bubbling excitement and mischief. Ones that Arkus couldn't help but be slightly mesmerized at. After all he never meet someone with eyes that were like the ocean. But now they were shadowed with unconsciousness.

The boy grunted as he continued to moving around in disillusioned hysteria. He watched as the kid groaned and whined as he tried to escaped his grip, whining like a wounded animal. He held the boy till he finally calmed down, completely tired out from his struggles and Arkus couldn't help and let out a small sigh of relief.

"Quick get the armour off _!_ We need to check his wounds" she ordered.

"But-" he starts but Ailien interrupts him. "We can't do anything if we don't know the full extent of his injuries. So just do what I say Ark" she cuts off, her voice stern and screamed "this isn't a debate". At these moments Arkus can remember just who _terrifying_ Ailien could be.

Without any resistance and the sudden need to not get on Aielin's bad side, the healer's assistant steps towards the boy in questions and with careful hands begins to take of the boys cracked armour. Arkus helps him first take of the armour gauntlets before taking off the armour of the uninjured leg, with careful precision. Gently the assistant goes to take of the boys breastplate and tenses slightly as the boy groans softly at the weight of his hand.

The assistant turned to Arkus and asks in a soft voice, "Could you help me take of the chest piece. I need not worsen his condition any further " he asked and Arkus immediately reaches for the other side of the armour. "What do you need me to do" he asked , his tone strong and filled with determination.

"Could you slightly raise both his arms so I maneuver the armour off of him" the assistant replies. Arkus nods as he hesitantly grabs the boy's arms and slowly lifts them up as the assistant worms the chestpiece over his head. Arkus couldn't help but feel his stomach tighten as the boys breaths began to shorten, panting heavily as they continue to undress him.

When the boy lets out a small mewl of pain, Arkus felt the need to comfort the boy. _Boy_ …By the gods he was just a child.

No boy should go through this.

Behind him he could sense Aielin looking over him, finally looking at the true extent of the boy's wounds. He turns his head and notices the healer crouching down to the side of the bed just like him, her eyes darkening as she inspects the boy.

"My Gods" he heard her whisper, knowing he wasn't meant to hear it. Aielin looked up to her assistant who was watching back intently. Their eyes connect, conveying something to one another through their gaze but Arkus couldn't tell what.

"He has a few minor cuts and bruises on his body, mainly surrounding his lower and upper legs and lower torso" she explained, her hand slightly to the visible cuts on his boys body. She narrowed her eyes, magenta hues ,inquisitive and focused, as she looked over the boy slowly.

"From the looks the bruises on his chest, he has broken at least 4 ribs, three on his left and one on his right." She lifted her hand and let it hover before she forcefully open on of the boys lids. Arkus couldn't tell what she was looking for but could she found what she was looking for when she hums quietly.

"And as I thought, he also a concussion, probably from a high or a potential crash" as she paused to raise her finger under her chin, a habit Arkus knew she would do when she was thinking. Arkus couldn't help but think back to the large mysterious ship that lay limp and broken beside him. He could remember the large cavern underneath the beastly ship- probably made from the collision he guessed- and the tears and scorch marks that littered its metal "body".

"What's our biggest concern is his leg." she admits, pausing for a moment before continuing.

"The wound and penetration of the skin and muscle with its small entry point suggest a bullet wound of some kind. And considering the slight scorch marking on the inner wound, it was a blaster of some kind or at least something hot enough to be a laser shot" she continues on. She looks at the boy before closing her eyes, releasing a heavy sigh.

"It wouldn't be so much of a problem if it wasn't severely infected. The infection itself has progressed, completely damaging the wound and the leg itself. With the presence of heavy inflammation on around the suggest this is long term and the wound isn't getting oxygenated enough for the wound to continue it's healing process."

"From the hand made structure, the boy created a brace so he be mobile even with the severe injury he had." Aielin explained. Arkus watches as she lets out a small chuckle.

" I have to admit, making a hand made brace with materials he had on hand. Pretty smart" she admitted, looking at the boy with soft interest, a small small gracing her lips. But Arkus gazed at her as the smile immediately disappears as she continued on with the boy's condition, her stoic and stern facade returning back in a flash.

"The wound has disintegrated from its normal form and has lactated beyond recognition. Meaning this isn't a new wound." she then gestures to his leg, her hand waving over it as she continued speaking, calm and formal.

"Then see these veins. The capillaries have burst causing internal damage to the muscles and is stopping natural blood flow. Lucky for him some were still intact, which is why he's still standing. At least for now" she said as her assistant slowly grabbed the boy hand made brace and gently took it of the boys leg. Arkus tore his gaze away from the injured leg as the boy lets out a small whimper.

Immediately the female healer reaches out and places her hand onto the boys forehead and Arkus watched in amazement as the boy relaxes again, becoming lact and limp. Well, he guessed, Aielin wasn't considered the best doctor in the village for no reason after all.

"So then what can we do?" Arkus asks as Aielin slowly retracts her hand from the boy. She stood up, placing her hands in the pocket of her coat.

"The leg is too damaged to let it healing natural and with medicine alone. Also performing an normal surgeries would be useless right now." She pauses, taking a heavy and burdened sigh as she crossed her arms. She looks at the boy with the most solemn expression Arkus had ever seen, before she turns her gaze towards him

"However there is one option left" she whispered. Arkus looks up at her in anticipation. The boy might actually have a chance, he thought to himself in relief. In his relief, he didn't notice her eerie silence until she turned to him, her eyes filled with heavy guilt but determination.

"The only thing we can do now is amputate the leg"

And with her words Arkus felt his breath leave his entire body. "What?" he repeated.

He turned to the boy, taking in peaceful look on his face as he continued to sleep in blissful rest, unaware of what's going on with. From where Arkus was, it almost look like a young child sleeping before him. Which was exactly wrong. He was young enough to _be_ a child.

Goddess', he could be the same age as his daughter. And here he was, laying on his bed in immense pain and losing every breath of life in him as time continued on.

And that only made Arkus feel worse. What should he do, he thought. It wasn't fair to the boy to have such extreme injuries. He doesn't deserve to lose his leg.

But he doesn't deserve to die either...

Forgive me, he prayed to the boy.

"Okay" he whispered. Aielin looked at him for a moment before giving him a look of understanding. " We need to do this quick. The quicker the better chance we can save him in time" she tells him.

He saw Aielin gesture to her assistant as he walks out of the room for a moment, probably heating up one of his spare axes as we speak. That thought alone only made the reality of the situation crash down on him.

A spark of a thought came into mind and he turns to the healer in worry.

"Wait what about the pain-reliever?" he asked frantically as the healer in question was organising a pack of bandages on to the bedside table swiftly.

"Arkus we don't have time. By the time it kicks in, we'll lose him. And that's if I had any. You know the Galra's scrapped all the more stronger medicine from us" she hissed, whispering to her assistant to hold the hurt boys arms. Her assistant nodded and walks towards him just as Aielin pulled out some bandages and bottled jars.

"Now do you have a spare axe or blade I can used to perform the procedure" she asked, her voice almost innocent, like their wasn't any weight behind her words. Arkus turned to her, feeling a droplet of sweat run down his forehead. He gulped, his mouth suddenly dry, before speaking.

"We have an axe right down downstairs, beside the back door." he answered. Aielin nodded and waved over to her assistant. She whispered to him, instructing him to get the axe. The helper nodded before

"We'll need to heat up the axe so the cut is clean and smooth. Will that be alright?" she asked. Arkus felt his blood run cold at the thought but nodded anyways.

Suddenly the door creaked open and Arkus turned his gaze to see Ceri standing there with a giant basin of water and towels held under her arms.

"I got the water and towels. I wasn't sure how many you needed" she said nervously. Aielins helper walked over and thank her, grabbing the large basin and placing beside the bed. Ceri went and gave the towels to Aielin, the healer turning to her and smiling gently. "Thank you little one." she thanked as she took the towels from her.

Ceri smiled back but was wiped off when she heard the boy groan again. She gazed at the boy in worry and Arkus couldn't help but feel the need to comfort her. Before he could even act on the thought the healer rested her hand on his daughter. "Don't worry. He's going to be just fine"

Ceri turned to her in surprise and he watched as the doctor's eyes softened. "I'll make sure of it"

Ceri looks at her for a moment before giving her a small but grateful smile. "Thank you Healer Aielin"

Arkus turned his attention to the assistant as he came back into the room, Arkus never once noticing him ever leaving, with a large slab of wood on hand. He watched as he stepped towards the bed and carefully- and eloquently - placed the slab just under the injured leg.

Right where it would have to be cut of, he realised, with unwanted clarity.

"Ceri wait outside"

"But Papa-"

"Now Ceri!" he yelled. He turned to his daughter and watched as she tensed. "I don't want you to see this." He didn't know he said it out loud. The room stretched in silence before a soft whisper came from behind him.

"Okay" Ceri said softly. He didn't turn around around as she walked out of the room, hearing the closing the door behind him. He closes his eyes and lets out a deep sigh. When he opens them again he notices Aielin looking at him with a silent but clear gaze.

"What?" he bites out, slightly glaring at her. But Aielin continues to look back at him, head on. "Is it wrong for me to not want to give my own child more night terrors or tragedies" he growls out but Ailien just continued to watch him eyefully.

He turned his head away, his eyes solely resting on the boy in front of him and whispers, softly,"She has enough tragedies weighing on her shoulder. I'm not about to make another one"

Aielin eyes soften, her stoic facade disappearing for a moment. "We need to get ready. Ourka, the axe please?" she asked the assistan- _Ourka._ Ourka nodded and leaves the room to retrieved the heating up axe. Arkus watches as he left the room silently before turning his gaze back to female healer.

"Don't worry, he's already unconscious, he won't even remember this even happening. _Now hold him_ _ **down**_ " Arkus gulped before tightening his hold on the boys arms and shoulders while Aielin gives a short curt nod as the helper grabbed the boy's other leg and his upper torso, making sure he was immobile as possible.

"Whatever you he does, whether he screams, cries or flails around. _Don't let go of him._ "

Arkus felt his heart clench at the though but gave a strong but curt nod.

"Ready?" they all nodded as Aielin slowly raised the axe, the light of the axe glowing from its heat.

"Three" Arkus took a deep breath.

"Two" he gripped the boy's shoulder and chest, taking in how solemn the boy looked one last time.

"One"

Arkus would never forgot the slice of sound as the axe fell down, meeting its mark.

 _ **Or the blood curdling scream that came after.**_

He watched in terror as the boy flung forward , pushing against his weight as he lets out a ear screeching scream. He scream and screamed till Arkus heard his voice become hoarse, And even still he continued to scream.

The boy flailed and struggled against his grip and Arkus had to grunt as he tried to keep him in place. But he continued to struggle his arms flails in the air before they meet his chest. The boy gripped his shirt like a lifeline, pulling to in but also pushing him away.

And as the boy continued to grip him tightly he felt his heart sank out the sound of his broken sobs and cries.

" _Mama! Mama. Duele- Duele mucho-AHHH"_ Arkus couldn't understand the boy's words, the words slurred and spoken through a completely different tongue than his own, but he hear the painful cries and fear from his words. Arkus had to swallow the bile rising in his throat.

Hearing the boy beg, he could felt dirty as he restrained the boy. He watched as the boy couldn't to scream, his voice strained and hoarse beyond belief.

" _Don't let him move!"_ Aielin yelled as she poured of a bottle of liquid all over the leg before grabbing her needle and beginning to stitch up the remaining skin leftover. He glanced over and watched as her bloody hands stitched him up with such quick precision before he feels the boy beneath him struggle under his weight once again.

" _Dondo esta….por favour hagolo parar….Mama! Papa!"_ the half conscious boy continued to scream out. He flinch at the words but still pinned the boy down as he flailed aimlessly around the bed.

" _H-hazlo parar..-por favor hazlo parar…...P-por favor alguien me-...ayude!"_ he chokes out, his voice strangled his words slurring more and more by the second.

He watched as the boys eyes become hooded, and unfocused, finally catching a glimpse of his blue eyes before they rolled back under his eyelids and the boy finally fell fully unconscious. He heard Aielin sigh in relief.

"Bandages"she whispered, Ourka bolted from his position and grabs the bandages which lay neatly folded beside him. He places them in her hand and watched intently as she wraps the surrounding wounds and his ribs but not the leg itself.

Arkus couldn't help but absently wonder why and as those Aielin could read his very thoughts she answers. "We need to let the wound be oxygenated for a bit before bandaging it. And it's best to leave the remaining limb to be less tenderised for at least less than than a varga."

"But what if he bleeds out? What do we do then?" he asked, as he watched Aielin stand up, himself soon following.

"Dont worry. The heat of the axe was strong enough to cauterise the majority of the wound, which also means that he didn't lose too much blood either. He's going to survive, thankfully" she said and she took one of the fresh towels that wasn't covered in the boy's blood and used it to wipe her soaked hands.

She kept her gaze towards the boy as her assistant grabbed the hot basin of water and dipped in one of the bloody towels, the water's once clear appearance muddled with the murky red of his blood, and place one of them around the amputated leg, soaking in all the mangled blood and grazes that surrounds it.

Aielin was suddenly drawn back from his trance as she reached out as lay her hand on his shoulder softly. "You did good Arkus" she spoke. _But no good enough_ , he felt a voice whisper behind him. Arkus ignores the voice however and tries to gives her a small smile that looked strained.

"Now lets leave the boy be. I'll have Ourka keep watch of him while he rests" she said, before lightly patting his back in comfort. She smiled at him for a second before she turns to leave the room. Arkus turned to look at the boy one last time and was glad to see the peaceful look that dwelled on his face.

He just hope the boy would make it.


	4. Chapter 35-Pidge

Its official. Out of all the missions and crappy situations she's ever been in.

This has to be the worst of them yet...

The mission was a success and where just about to wormhole jump. That's when everything went wrong. She knew that weird lightning did something to the wormhole but she was to relieved with getting out of there to realise the potential risk it brought.

She remembered her anxiety as the wall of the wormhole changed from its beautiful and calm sea of blue to a sickly mixture of purple, sparking like electricity. She honestly felt no better fear then when the Green Lion was flung from the Hanger and was pulled towards the violent pulling force of the tainted interior.

She could recall her wishing that this wasn't the end. That she still had to find Matt and her Dad. And return to Earth, her mom waiting with open arms. And as she felt her and Green crash against the wormhole walls, she felt her fear spike and clench her eyes shut as the fell through the walls, the pure surprise and relief as she came from the other side _alive_ , gave her a sense of gratefulness to any superior entity this galaxy believed in.

Until she was thrown strongly towards a cluster of space debris.

Which led her to where she was now. Crash landed on what was like a trash nebula of some kind.

To say the crash landing was terrible would be an understatement.

And what's worse…...the Green Lion wasn't responding.

So Pidge wasn't having a good day.

With the lack of information about where she had landed and the knowledge that she had no communications till - _or if-_ the Green Lion was back online again, didn't leave much to ignore the pool of anxiety that bubbled in her stomach.

She scanned over the black screen for the millionth time that hour, silently hoping this time they would light up again. But they didn't, just the other times she wished them to. She couldn't help but let out a drawled out sigh in frustration.

"Okay Pidge stay calm. Remember what Matt taught you, ' _When you're lost in space the best thing to do is to stay put and wait for people to find you'_ " she told herself, her heart tightened at the thought of her brother. God, she missed her brother. She shook her head, banishing her thoughts. She didn't have time for that. "This could be fun" she tells herself, straightening her back, her hands resting between her crossed legs.

"No one to annoy me" she sighed out. She felt her mind drift, old memories of all the time Hunk and Lance would come find her in what the duo would like to call "The Techno-hermit Cave" and drag her out from any projects she was working on. Or even when Coran came to occasion chat or rather she would type out some coding as he would tell her tales of the "Old days". That is until Allura personally came to drag him out of her hair, with some assignment or duty in mind. Or even the times Shiro would nag and scold him about not sleeping or missing an occasional meal or two.

Hell, even Keith came in just so he can have a place to himself to think or just have someone there while he did all his angsty mullet haired stuff, like clean his weapons (aka his knife and bayard).

As she thought of her team she felt the pit of worry in her stomach deepen at the thought of them out there.

Did they even make it out alright? Did they get stranded just like she did?

Wherever they are she just hopes their okay.

She shook her head quickly, physically trying to banish her thoughts. What was she thinking. Of course they were okay. They always are. There wasn't any reason for them not to be.

Well except beside the tear in the spacial gravitational pull of the malfunctioning black hole.

Pidges sighs heavily, lightly tapping her knee with her index finger absently.

Going outside wouldn't hurt right? Maybe she could occupy herself with finding some scraps of metal that was lying around and make junk versions of the team. Maybe even a mini junk Voltron. But only if she was bored enough.

Which seems exactly where she is right now. Bored

And with nothing to do but wait.

And what if one of them landed her with her?

She froze at the absent thought. What if they close enough for her to find them? Or even have a functioning Lion that could send a signal out to Allura and Coran.

 _If they made it out safely through the wormhole that is_ , a voice quipped in the silence.

Dammit she can't just sit here and do nothing while her friends could possible be out there, looking for her and the others. She needs to find a way of this junk pile. Or look to see if anyone crashed along with her. Patience wasn't her thing afterall.

 _Sorry Matt,_ she thought. She looks over to her bayard that was placed, locked in, into the key-like compartment before taking it out, placing it into the palms of her hands. She closes her eyes for a moment and grips her bayard tightly.

 _But I can't just wait around while the others try to find me._

"Okay" she mumbled to herself. She let her bayard dissolve into the armors interdimensional storage unit before standing up from her seat and walking out of the cockpit, not once looking back. But instead of going through the mouth of the Lion, she went to the crown of the head where there was a small panel that lead her out of the Lion, the passage created for the precaution where the Lion in question was no longer functioning

She tapped the small button on the side which caused the panel to slowly open up just above her head. She grunted disgruntled as she quickly climbed out of the panel. From there, on the top of the Lion, she could really see where she had landed.

"Huh" she mumbled under her breath as she scanned around her surroundings. "Looks like their really is no gravity here huh". She must be far enough away from the surrounding planets orbital fields, preventing any sort of gravitation to this condensed spot and location. Probably the reason why this nebula is crowded with junk like it is.

She couldn't but wonder if the others had landed someone similar to this place or if they found themselves on a planet that was filled with life.

She took in the view for one last time before turning her gaze to the Green lion, the once powerful, and stagnate presence, sitting there now in front of her, large and devoid of the life and presence it once had, it's large paws holding it up from its now lifeless weight. She couldn't help but feel the sense of wrongness that surrounds her sight.

She wasn't ashamed to admitted that she wasn't the most closest to their lion. Two that rely solely on knowledge and intelligence, they lacked the art of "bonding" and weren't the best at connecting with others. They were more like allies or even a partnership of common interest. With the Green Lion, Pidge can find her family and for the Green Lion would have a paladin and pilot to be used in this war.

They had a good understanding between one another.

But now…

Pidge looked at her Lion, who stood still like a frozen statue, the light in its eyes blackened and dimmed. She's never seen her Lion like this before. This _empty_.

 _Lifeless._

Worry tightened her chest. She didn't know why but she knew that she hated seeing her lion like this and silently she made a promise to herself to never let Green end up like this ever again.

When Green was back she's gonna try to be the most sociable person in the universe. Even more than Coran or Lance, if that was even possible. Quietly, she rested her hand onto one of Green's limp paws.

"Rest up, girl. I'll find a way to get us out of here" she whispered, sighing as she got no response in return. Now, she turned around, her gaze focused on the junk pile before her.

Where to start….

She looked at her wrist hoping to see the screen light up, functionally and actually have something to work with. But-

Nothing…

She tapped the screen hoping it could do something but nothing. She sighs.

 _Great._

Now she wasn't just crash landed on a space nebula of some kind that was on the other side of the universe with a lion thats offline, no way of this place _and_ with no map.

She groaned in exasperation. There wasn't much she could do except look around, scout the area. With what actual area there was. At least it's a start. But what then. She floating was around in a trash nebula with a offline Lion and nothing to do except wander around, she could be lucky enough to find something that could help her get off this thing.

….Yeah she doubted that would happen.

Maybe she should try the comms again, see if they work. If she wasn't lucky enough to connect to her team she had some probable chance of connecting to a nearby ship that could help her. Of course there also the chance that she might contact a scouting Galran ship designated to this part of the system as well.

But if that happens she could ambush them and uses there channels to try and connect to the castle, maybe gets some useful information while she was at it.

Or it could just not connect to anything and she would have spend her time wandering around. Maybe make that junk team that she thought of earlier.

Wouldn't hurt to try, she guessed….

She raised her hands towards her helmet, activating her comms once again. She felt disheartened by the quiet sound of static filling her ears. Still, she opened her mouth, ready to test out the comms, until she heard a crackling sound that clipped through her helmet.

"An-...one t-there?"

Wait that voice, it couldn't be…

"Shiro?" she called out. "Pidge?" he called back, questioningly. It really was him!

"Shiro!"

She could Shiro sigh in relief through the comms, a soft exhale through the constant pants of breaths. " Good to finally hear someone's voice in this dump" he joked. "Good to hear from you too, Shiro" she answered, causing him to release a small breathless laugh in response.

"What even is this place?" she heard him murmur, quiet and probably only for himself to hear if it wasn't for the comms picking it up.

"What do you remember?" she asked.

"I don't know. I just remember falling through the wormhole and then crashing here." he explained. So the same as her then.

She glanced around the nebula, looking for the Black Lion in question. "But I didn't see the Black Lion" she hears Shiro grunt softly like he was pushing against something, a soft clatter of metal echoing through the comms.

"Yeah, when we fell through the wormhole, we collided and crashed through one of the holes and I can't get my lion out. The Black Lion was damaged by the impact of the fall and it isn't working"

So _exactly_ the same position as her then. Except the you know, Lion trapped in a hole part. But the majority of it is the same.

"What about the Green Lion, is it still operable" he asked, sucking in sharp and shallow breaths as he spoke. Why was he panting? "No, their offline too. Guess we're both stuck here then" she replied, silence static stretching out through the comms, no more words spoken.

She looks around, scanning over her surroundings for a familiar black figure but nothing. "Do you know where you are exactly. Like specific 'landmarks' that might hint me to where you might be?" she asked.

"T-Theres…" he stutters before starting over again. "There's a large dish in front of me. It looks….like some kind of satellite. About twenty _-twenty five?-_ inches give or take in length" he said, the comms crackling slightly. She looked around and noticed two distinct satellite dishes, two that fit exactly wait Shiro described. "Anything else?"

" _Yeah, a little bit ahead of the dish there's this….I don't know. A wing of some kind. It's tall curled and battered. It looks kind of bronzed and rusty"_

A bronze looking wing? She scowled as she scanned her surroundings. "A curled broken wing" she muttered to herself, trying to remind her what she was looking for her. Just as she was about to open her mouth to ask Shiro for more details, something caught her eyes. She squinted her eyes as she looked at the object and realised it was the wing that she was looking for. She smiled.

 _Bingo_

" _It isn't too far away from me. I could get there in ten minutes. Five tops"_ he grunted out. She nodded absently as looked for the clearest route to the satellite dish. "Okay, I see it. It isn't too far away from me, probably take five minutes to get there too".

"So, how are holding up?" she asked, trying to pass the time as she made her way towards her destination. "You don't sound as excited as you would be falling through a wormhole and crashing into a giant space junk pile"

" _Well, it takes more than a glowing alien wound, a fall from here and crashing into this cluster debris at what i'm guessing was_ _ **25 metres per second squared**_ _to get rid of me. How are you?_ " he commented on in a casually sarcastic tone, that caused her to grin in response. Pidge makes her way towards the large tower like structure, her fluffy companions following right behind her, chirping and beeping occasionally.

"The Green Lion isn't responding to me, so I'll scout out and find you okay? From the looks of it your Lion isn't to far from where we are" she reported as she looked around the aimless debris and junk that floated around. Then she blinked. Wait..did she hear that right?

"What do you mean wound? Are you okay?" she asked, as she hopped past piles of junk, keeping a careful eye so she doesn't trip. She maneuvered around the larger clusters of junk around her as she continued to get closer and closer to the broken wing, which means she was almost at the tower.

" _Define_ _ **Okay**_ " she heard Shiro mutter under his breath, probably wasn't supposed to hear him. Well that doesn't sound too good. If Shiro of all people is being brief and sarcastic, that mean things weren't so good.

Not that Shiro didn't have sense of humour. Hell, Pidge could remember a time where Shiro was just as goofy and jokefull as her brother whenever she saw them together. Even now, during training she would hear Shiro shot a joke here and there to relax the team. But even Pidge noticed that Shiro doesn't joke as often as he used to. And when he does, it was to calm a tense situation or used to cover up how he felt or if he was severely tired or hurt.

Like now…

Though he wasn't being funny but sarcastic. That's new. So that could mean he's either mildly okay and actually not too injured _or_ he was very injured and could be covering it up with sarcasm too instead of just simple humor. _Then again he coul-_

Ugh Pidge. Rambling.

Suddenly she heard a large clatter of metal echo from beside her, drawing her out of her thoughts. Was someone her? She turned around then flinch when she heard the same clatter come from behind her. There it was again. That couldn't be just coincidence.

She twisted her body around, facing the hooded metal hole where , she presumed, the sound came from. She activated her senser on her armor leg, waving her hand across it and taking in the feeling of her bayard appearing in the palm of her hand.

"Who's there?!" she shrieked, raising her bayard out in front of her, feeling the bayard slowly take its form in her clenched hand; ready to attack. She watched anxiously as the hooded cave began to lit up, small glowing eyes dimmed eerily in the shadows, her nerves speaking higher and higher as more eyes glowed bey the second till the entire cave filled with glowing eyes.

She watched nervously and keep her bayard on hand, ready for them if they attacked, Whatever they were. Slowly, they floated towards her, their doey eyes filled with blank curiosity that Pidge couldn't help but quietly 'aw' at.

They didn't look so bad. Maybe there were actually friendly, she thought. She looked at the small and innocent looking creatures in front of her, floating there calmly, bleeping and gurgling from time to time. Without a second's thought, she drops his bayard to her side, still activated just in cause.

Suddenly in a flurry, the fluffy creature bleeping in a high pitch tone somewhat excitedly- or what Pidge guessed as excitement- and flew towards her, floating bubbly around her while some just floated just above her shoulder.

Pidge couldn't help but coo at the sight.

" _Awww_ Hey little guy. Aw, you guys are so cute. Too cute to be found in a dump like this. Are you the only guys living here?" she questioned absently, smiling as the bleep and blink in response.

" _Eh Pidge, What's going on?"_ she yelped in surprise as Shiro's filtered through her helmet. _Shit_ , she forgot to turn of the comms. "Eh nothing" she stammered out. "I just came across the locals, that's all" she replied, her eyes locked onto the group of fluffy space furballs that floated around her. She watched hesitantly as some drew closer to her, as if they were curious.

"I hope my rough landing didn't disturb your day. I'll only be here for a short amount of time. I'm just waiting for my friends to find me."

Friends…

"Anyways we were separated during a wormhole jump but one of them landed here with me and I have to find him"

The fluffy created that Pidge dubbed as- the Fluffies- let out a questioning blurb, which she took as curiosity. The huddled around her, floating aimlessly as they continues beeping and gurgling.

Quiznak, their so fucking adorable.

"Want to come help me find him?" She asked, knowing they wouldn't be able to reply. But even so, the gurgle to her happily and she couldn't but smile as the floated around her bubbly and excitingly, some circling around her constantly.

" _Pidge?"_ she heard Shiro worry voice come through the comms, his voice filled with concern. "I'm fine, I just found some our friendly neighbours"

" _Neighbours?"_ he asked questioningly. She looked up at the junk pile in front of her. Maybe she should fly over it? It doesn't look too high. She crouched down before activating her blasters. Pidge tries to keep balance as she flew over the top of the pile before floating back down. "Yeah but their harmless" she grunts out as she lands conveniently on top of the pile. Well that wasn't too bad.

" _Be careful though okay? We don't know what else could be lurking around here"_ Pidge rolls her eyes. "I know. I'll be careful" she promises, stopping for a moment before she skids down the junk pile , almost face planting once or twice in the process.

She looked around again to make sure she was still on track. Not too far to go now, he thought to herself. Just through small walled area in front of her and she would be there. She glanced behind her too see the flurry of space fluffies slide down the junk pile while a few just floated over it in mild satisfaction.

She waited for a moment as they all gathered around her once again before making their way into the walled off area. She strolled through the pathway, looking around the place absently, the furry creatures behind her bleep and coo bubbly, as they continue to float around her.

Suddenly she heard a sudden clatter of metal coming from ahead of her, immediately she held her bayard in her palms tightly, cautious but careful to no jump the gun. Maybe it was just some floating metal crashing into one another, she though. Then, Pidge heard another clatter of metal, louder this time, immediately tensing up in anticipation. She held her breath and listened.

Yeah that doesn't sound like just metal crashing into each other. Maybe it could be just more of these fluffy caterpillars flying around.

Damn it, she wished her map would work. She wouldn't be so goddamn antsy if she knew what she was dealing with here.

Pidge stood there for a moment, before slowly and cautiously taking a step forward, right towards the wide corner where she heard the sound come from.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she violently turned the corner, her bayard activated and in front her as she stood on the offensive battle stance. Ready to attack, but she stopped as she saw Shiro ahead, his head down as he leaned heavily against the surrounding walls.

"Shiro!" she yelled, waving her hands in the air, grabbing his attention. Quickly, Shiro turned his gaze to her, finally noticing her presence. "Pidge!" he breathes out, a small smile gracing his lips before he curls inward into his chest, hissing in pain.

Immediately, she ran towards him, watching intently as he tried to stay on his shaky feet. He continued to lean against the wall as he pants into himself, his breaths shallow and uneven as his one hand steadies him onto the wall while the other clutches his side tightly. For a moment Pidge thought she saw a glow coming through his fingers but ignores it as she reaches to Shiro's side, her bayard long unactivated as she lay her palm softly on his shoulder.

"Holy shit Shiro" she mumbled out, ignoring the his quiet but curt "Language" from him. Before Shiro could stagger on his feet and buckle under his own weight again, Pidge grabbed Shiro arm and slung it on to her shoulder as she supported his size. Which was hard considering she's only fifteen, tiny and has literally no upper body strength while Shiro was a fucking bulky ass rock of a man and over half her weight. Still she managed somehow.

"I'm okay, I'm okay" he mumbled, his voice slurred and slow.

She feel worry consume her the second she watched Shiros eyes roll slightly back before dropping closed. " _Shiro!_ " The sudden energy and life in his body disappeared from him, along with his consciousness so it seems, she mused. This was bad. "Come on stay awake. Stay with me Shiro"

Suddenly he lets out of a small but sharp exhale of breath before slumping heavily against Pidge, her own body almost buckling under his weight as she yelps in surprise .

Well.

Shit…

It been a few hours since they landed on this nebula.

When Shiro had fallen unconscious, Pidge didn't know what to do, until the Fluffy creatures drew her attention, nudging her shoulders before floating a head of her, waiting for her to follow. She complied, slinging Shiro around her before carefully -and kinda grunting- followed behind as they lead the way.

After much dragging and a lot more turns that Pidge wish weren't there, she found her and the group of fluffies in front of the cave where she first found them. Immediately she walked into the cave and left Shiro into the corner of the cave as she waited for him to wake up.

Not long after, Shiro woke up again and was in more pain. Her thoughts of the past hours were drawn away from the sound of Shiro groan in pain.

She looked at Shiro in worry, taking notice to how pale he looked. He looks so tired, it seemed so out of place, like an expression that should never even exist on his face. She couldn't help but wonder if Shiro looked the same when he was in captivity from the Galra. Fighting in those coliseums. Tired.

Defenceless.

In pain?

The very thought of him like that left a tight knot in her stomach. She can't bear to see her brothers best friend, her _leader_ and _her_ friend, in such pain. Like it was something that just didn't fit and shouldn't fit.

She and the other won't let it fit. Not on their watch.

Shiro noticed her gaze and gives her a small smile, trying to reassure her but only makes her more worried and the wince it causes.

"It's okay, Katie. Really, it isn't as bad as it looks"

Pidge tried to ignore the urge to roll her eyes at Shiro. Okay, her ass. They were god knows where, with no clue where the others are and Shiro is injured. Okay isn't close to describing this.

She stepped towards Shiro and crouched down beside him. From a closer view, she could see just how much of "okay" Shiro was. The sweat-drenched frosted tips plastered on his forehead, the pale look from his skin. The ragged breaths.

And the flash of pain in his eyes.

"Let me see" Pidge mumbled. Gently she rested her hand on top of Shiro's clenched one, silently asking for permission. When Shiro relaxes his grip, Pidge slowly held it in her hand, moving it away from the wound, letting it rest limply on his thigh. She hears Shiro let out a loud hiss, but keeps her eyes on the wound. When she finally sees the wound, she felt her stomach drop.

If she was completely honest, this had to be the weirdest wound she ever saw. And the most vile.

The wound was plastered over his entire lower side, pulsing slightly as the ever glowing shade of lilac surrounded the entire wound. The sickly shade spread out like its was lightning, the ends sharp and zig zagging like the end of a thunderbolt. It was sparse and uncontrollable, stretching all around Shiro's torso. There was rapid and noticeable discolouration surrounding the glowing wound, a few bruising blemishes danced around the existing wound.

There was also visible signs of swelling, contorted by the layer of….something, distorted how much swelling there was present, only noticeable by the uneven bumps that stuck out of his side and upper hip. The sickeningly illuminescent violet mingling with his wine red blood, mixing in the bloody puddle beside him. Fuck, it looked even bigger than before.

Shit, what the hell is this wound?

Shiro blinked, owlishly. If Pidge wasn't so worried and stressed than usual she would have made a snarky comment about his face. But even she knew it wasn't time for that, _even_ if she really wanted to comment on it.

Sacrifices for the greater good, she guessed.

Carefully, she reached towards the small sachet that she added to her belt just before the mission and took out a small cube, the box dimming in a low fluorescent neon blue. She pressed against one side of the cube and watched as the top of the cube slide to the side, revealing a soft and smooth goo inside, its sickly acidic yellow tang contrasting against the navy blue interior.

Softly, she scooped a large bit of the goo onto the tips of her fingers and turned to towards Shiro before gently placing the slick substance directly onto his glowing wound. She tried not to flinch as Shiro hissing vehemently and continued to spread the goo around the surrounding injury., scooping some more goo from the cube when she needed to.

Once she was done she quickly went stood up and told Shiro to wait there as she went back to her Lion to get the remaining bandages she had left. Once she finally returned she wrapped his wound tightly around his torso, making sure it was tight enough to keep together but not enough to cause any discomfort.

"Your good at this" she heard Shiro whisper above her as she knots the bandage together. His words absent and almost dazed as he spoke, almost saying the words as though it was a statement or something deeper. Like a child who just observed something they didn't notice before.

"Yeah, my Mom liked to teach me basic first aid when I had nothing else to do. She would always say it was stupid for a nurse like her to not teach her kids at least _some_ first aid." she replied, smiling slightly.

She couldn't help but reminisce at the thought of her mother, memories of all the afternoons with her mom in the living room, learning how to bandage someone with a sprained leg or to make slings. Ever since they came to space, Pidge has been using her skills to help or fix anyone that was mildly injured to the point that going into one of the healing pods would be a waste. If she wasn't decoding an Galra info the got from recon missions or searching for her family, that us. Still, the last thing she expected it to be so handy out here in space.

She focused back onto the task at hand, knowing full well what would happen if she continued that train of thought and purposely ignore the slight tug of her heart at the thought of her mother alone. She mental shook her head stubbornly.

Dammit, she cursed. This wasn't helping. Finally shed tied the last knot in success and quickly snapped he hands back to rest on her lap.

" _And_ done! Better?" she asked, looking up to older man in front of her. Shiro gazed down at the neatly wrapped bandage with a small smile. "Yeah….thanks Pidge" he spoke out softly. Pidge replied with a small tilted grin.

"Thank me when we get out of here" she replied, slowly getting back onto her feet. She turned to her gauntlet, watching absently as her screen pops up. She reads over the screen, looking at lack of frequencies displayed. Pidge's sighs out in frustration. Still no form of communication.

She guessed they really would have to wait here.

"Hey" she heard a soft whisper and looks up to see Shiro looking at her softly, a small encouraging smile in place of his earlier crunched up and pained expression. She watched absently as Shiro looked at her, a drop of sweat rolled down his forehead to his bottom jawline. "They'll come" he said, his straining chords suddenly soothed by the strength of his words.

She looked into his eyes, gazing intently at the sudden fire that builded in iris, determination, confident and faith fueling its spark. He was so confident that they would come, believing that they were alright, safe and well and _alive._

It was so strong even Pidge could almost believe his words.

He was right. They will come. All she has to do is have a little faith in her friends. She turned her gaze to the group of 'Fluffies', and watched as they they clustered together in some line, their markings glowing more brightly than before as the turn their gaze outside of the small metallic cave. Curiously, she followed their gaze, wondering what caused them to act this way.

"Pidge? What's going on?" Shiro asked, concern dripping from his voice as she looked out of the cave in silence. Shiro couldn't see what she was looking at at the angle he was but couldn't help but think something was wrong. She turned to him, confusion etched into his expression as she grinned at him wildly.

"It's the Green Lion! She's rebooting!" she yelled back. She watched in awe as the Lions eyes that were dark abyss glew in its usual temperate amber, glowing brighter than Pidge hever saw. He couldn't help but feel a sense of relief at seeing Green return back to her, unscaved and the same as always. Even without a strong bond, Pidge couldn't help but feel glad to feel Green's bond and presence once more.

"Hey you're working again! Welcome Back!" she cheered, flailing her hands in the air as the Green Lion to move onto its feet, a soft purr emitted from its metallic body.

She ignored Shiro's grunt of surprise as she rushed out of the hooded cave and bolted towards the Green Lion. Without warning, she used her back pack to accelerate through the condensed nebula at a faster rate, drawing closer and closer to her Lion, not noticing some of the furballs trailing behind her.

2 seconds….

That's all it took for her to start her jet pack, fly a few feet, then get her foot caught on a large cable wire and fling herself smack down onto the ground.

….

Great..

"Pidge!" Shiro called out, his eyes drawn to his fallen teammate as she lay flat against the pile of junk underneath her. "Im fine" she grunted."I just tripped on some rusty…."

 _Satellite..._

Pidge you genius.

"That's it!" she yelled, raising her hands up into the air- space! - in happiness. Shiro yelps in surprise at her sudden burst of energy before crunching his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Eh-wha..?" he stumbles out.

She turned towards him, knowing full well her eyes would be gleaming with determination. "I think I know a way to contact the castle"

She turns back to the broken satellite and parts, gesturing her hands towards them. "If I get the right parts that could be still used and linked them to the Green Lion, I could send I strong enough signal that Allura and Coran could get" she explained.

Shiro looked at her for a moment, taking in the confidence in her voice, before letting his lips curled upwards slightly. "Pidge...you're a genius"

Pidge couldn't help but smile back shyly at the praise. She's used to people calling her a genius, whether out of scorn or in admiration. But hearing Shiro call her a genius warms her heart and can't help but remind her of every Matt would say the same thing, giving her the exact same feeling in her chest.

It was...nice.

Awkward as hell….but nice.

"I know" she agreed, playfully, which only made Shiro smile widen. She raised her hand under her chin as she thought deeply. This shouldn't be too hard. They had all the materials right in front of them after all. Speaking of materials.

"We'll need to get a big enough satellite disk or various small disks that aren't broken enough" Pidge muttered.

"Then I'll help you get the materials you need" Shiro pants out. She watched as he grabbed the wall he was lying against and rushed towards in worry as he tries to push himself up only to fall back down.

"Like hell you are. You're going to sit here and rest "

"Bu-"

"No. You're going to stay there and no hurting yourself, got it?"

"Besides, I'm sure these little guys won't mind lending a hand" she said, grinning widely as the continued to bleep excitingly. "Now rest up. I don't wanna have to deal with Keith's "protective emo brother" phase" she smirks and can't help but let it grow at the sound of Shiro's soft chuckle. "Fine" with a sigh, he relents and Pidge couldn't help but feel victorious.

"Hang in there, o' gracious leader. I'm gonna make sure Allura and Coran get her before you keel over okay? When they come they'll fix you right up. So just hold out a little longer okay?" she watched as Shiro turned his gaze to her before give a small wince of a smile before nodding. She gave him a her large grin before turning her gaze away, her mind drumming with anticipation.

She looked at the Green Lion, taking in the sight of the once lifeless machine, drum with energy and she couldn't help but smile at the sight and the soft purr she could hear the lion emit.

"Lets get started"

"Okay then I put this here and connect this wire with this one" she mumbled to her herself unconsciously, her mind running constantly as she focused solely on the task in front of her. Her hands fumbled as she connected each wire together with another.

With the help of the furry space caterpillars, it didn't take long to gather enough materials to use to build the satellite. After a few hours of searching and scavenging through the entire nebula, they were finally able to get enough materials and wires to actually built this thing. With her tools, the ones that she secretly smuggled into the Green Lion when Coran wouldn't catch her taking, she was able to put it all together with short amount of time.

She was a quick worker after all….

Plus she may have got extremely focused into her work and may or may not fell over some metal plates from time to time.

As she continued working on making the satellite, Shiro and the group of fluffies gathered all the material, organizing it so she wouldn't have to go looking for them. But secretly, she knew it was just a way for Shiro to do something while he waited and try to be helpfull without worsening his injuries. But for his sake, she would it go this time, pretend she didn't notice.

Or at least try to.

As did the finished connecting the finally pieces together, Shiro lay a few feet behind her, his hand still resting on his wound, occasionally she would take a small glance at her leader, making sure he was still conscious and couldn't help but feel her mouth twitched as he gazed, dazedly, at the fluffies that circled in front him, playing with one another. Some had settled down, laying around the crooks of Shiro's legs or a few slowly gathering around him.

When she finished the last piece of the circuit, she glanced over once again and watched silently as one of of the caterpillars got up and quietly and sneakily -or at least tried to be- onto his lap, snuggled together in the crooks of his crossed legs. It silently gurgled as Shiro hesitantly and rather cautiously, lay his hand onto the fluffy creature, his eyes wide and amazed as the creature bleeped in delight.

"These guys sure are friendly" Shiro muttered and one of them bleeped in response. Pidge couldn't help but snort at the sight. Shiro turns to her a little flustered, a small embarrassed blush dusting his pale cheeks as he quickly places his hand back down to his side again. The fluffy creature in front coes slightly, beeping and gurgling sadly before slowly floating up to him, grazing its furry cheeks against Shiro shoulder.

She watched in amusement as Shiro looks at the creature conflict, like he didn't know whether to maintain his pride as leader or to give in to the cute creature in front of him. But after a few moments, Shiro eyes sharpened, his mind made up as he lay his hand down onto the space caterpillar once again. Pidge laughed lightly as the fluffy fluttered, satisfied and content laying there as Shiro began petting him once again.

"That ought to do it" she hummed in approval, happy with it finally all coming together. She placed the final panel to cover up the last of the connected wires and circuits, screwing it in place. She turned to the panel in front her, her fingers typing vigorously across the screen. "Now lets see if we can get a hold of the Castle"

She then pressed the activation and floated back as she watched the entire satellite charge up, the entire thing slowly immersing itself in an acrylic blue glow of energy until it lights flickers momentarily before all the glow disappears, dimming quickly and the drumming sound of the satellite is cut off. She rushed to the panel, trying to maintain whatever energy left in it keeping it going but it all shuts down.

She slammed her hand against the panel. "No, No! Come one, what's wrong?!" she typed against the panel furiously as she tried to revive it but the tower continued to only let out a low buzzing sound but going silent once again. She tried and tried but it just keep building up with energy only to die out again.

"Dammit, we need to get out of here and get Shiro some help" she yelled out. "Pidge" Shiro whispers softly but before he could continue, she turned to him in a flurry of frustration. "No Shiro, this needs to work. It _has_ to. We need to find our friends"

They can't just sit here while their friends were in danger. She can't just wait anymore. Not like with Matt and her father. She just can't. Not again.

" _Come on!"_

Suddenly, she briefly saw a certain bright neon orbs shine brightly and dangerously as the Green Lion rage into life, and lets out a loud bellowing roar that, one that shakes the entire nebula as the metal clatters against one another from the sound of its roar. Then without warning, the satellite lights up, a bright luminescent ivy green energy courses through the machine, sending out a large wave of echoes ahead.

"Yes!" she cheered, relief and pure excitement bubbled up inside her. She turned to her lion, listening to the soft purr of contentment from the being, and at that Pidge couldn't be smile in return.

"Thanks girl" she whisper and couldn't help but be surprised at the distorted but soft 'your welcome' she received back in return. Beside her she can hear the fluffy caterpillars flew around her, beeping and gurgling in excitement. She laughed as they bounced around her in delight.

"You did it" Shiro said, his voice soft but not taking away the happiness and pride in his words. They watched as the satellite continued to send waves out towards. They did it.

Now all they have to do now is wait.

….

Then in a blink of an eye, she saw a wormhole door appear in above them, tearing through space, it's familiar aqua blue energy swirling into each other as a even more familiar spacecraft bursted through the veil of the wormhole, its pearl white exterior shining brightly around its rusty and slowly corroding surrounding. Pidge blinked.

Well….

That was faster than she expected.

" _We made it!"_ Allura's and Corans voice boomed through her helmet, as the spaceship hovered above them quietly. She could help but feel the tension that built up inside her since crashing into this nebula evaporate into thin air at the sound of Allura's voice.

She did it. The were actually here.

She turned to Shiro as he blinked at the spacecraft owlishly before his face relaxes into an expression of pur relief and happiness. " _Pidge! Shiro! Thank the stars you're alright"_ Allura's voice boomed through her helmet. Shiro looks up at the spacecraft and smiles.

"Good to you too, princess. Coran, How are you two holding up?"

" _Great my boy. Fantastic even! especially with all that crazy wick whacking that just happened"_ she heard him say, easily able to imagine the orange haired Altean fiddling with his moustache as he spoke. Geez it was great to hear her crazy space uncles voice again. She almost missed his antics.

Almost...

" _That's right. Pidge, you saved us. We were stuck in a time loops"_ Allura explained causing Pidge to arch her eyebrow in question. A time loop?

" _Yes! You got us out with this giant trash pile"_ Corans voice suddenly boomed through the turned creation, her heart swelling up with pride. "It's a makeshift communications link that sends out the Green Lions energy. Its similar to the energy that guided the Blue Lion home. Or at least that was the theory I used to build this with" she explained.

" _Pidge your a genius"_

" _Thank you Pidge"_ Allura praised, her voice filled with utter gratitude that it made Pidge squirm a bit at the praise.

"I know" she remarks before continuing. "But we have bigger problems to deal with. Shiros injured and-" she begins but is cut off by the princess' voice. " _Shiro? He's with you? Are the others with here too?"_

"No it's just us two. We check the comms and everything. But forget that, Shiro's wound has worsened and he needs medical attention as soon as possible"

Pidge bounced over to Shiro would still lay against the wall, too weak to get up on his own. Carefully she helped him rise to his feet before hooking herself under his arm, supporting his weight as he stood up with shaken feet. He let out a loud hiss before finally relaxing against Pidge.

" _Preparing a crypod now"_ Coran reported. Pidge smiled. "Thanks Coran"

" _Now let's go save the other Paladins"_


End file.
